B.C. municipal election 2018: Langley (Township)

Candidates

To be announced.

Boundary

The Township of Langley is situated in the Fraser Valley, east of Surrey and west of Abbotsford. Its boundaries surround the City of Langley to the east.

Population (2016)

117,285

History

The Township of Langley shares a history with the City of Langley, which broke off to become its own municipality in 1955.

Before that happened, Langley was an area populated by the Kwantlen First Nation who fished, hunted and traded there.

Fort Langley was established as a trading post in 1827, before it was relocated in 1839. It burned down 10 months after the move and was rebuilt in 1840, where it stands today.

The Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858 brought more activity to the Langley area as prospectors chased after a fortune.

Fort Langley’s importance as an economic centre fell off after the British monarchy proclaimed the Crown Colony of British Columbia.

Its time as an Hudson’s Bay Company trading post ended by 1886.

Farming, however, remained as an economic driver in the region, producing beef, dairy, cranberries and much more. Langley would take on the moniker of the “Horse Capital of B.C.”

The City of Langley was created as development was focused on the downtown area.

Further growth would come with the Trans-Canada Highway in the 1960s.

Today, Langley plays host to two post-secondary institutions: Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Trinity Western University.

Median total income of couple economic families with children (2015)/B.C. median

$126,099/$111,736

Crime Severity Index (CSI) – 2016/B.C.

99.22 (+5.25)/93.63 (-0.71)

Violent Crime Severity Index (CSI) – 2016/B.C.

56.18 (-19.86)/74.86 (-9.81)

Political representation

Federal

John Aldag (Liberal) – Cloverdale-Langley City

Mark Warawa (Conservative) – Langley-Aldergrove

Provincial

Rich Coleman (BC Liberal) – Langley East

Michael de Jong (BC Liberal) – Abbotsford West

Darryl Plecas (Independent) – Abbotsford South

Mary Polak (BC Liberal) – Langley