B.C.’s real estate watchdog has issued its first public consumer alert in four years, following a B.C. Supreme Court decision this week to send a troubled Langley condo development into receivership.

As Postmedia reported earlier in the week, longtime Metro Vancouver condo developer Mark Chandler was trying to keep Murrayville House, his 92-unit Langley condo development, out of receivership, after private lenders who financed the project applied to have a receiver take over selling the property and repaying millions in unpaid debts Chandler’s creditors allege he owes.

On Wednesday, after hearing arguments from lawyers for both Chandler and his creditors, a B.C. Supreme Court judge made an order appointing The Bowra Group as the receiver for Chandler’s numbered company and empowering them to act at once to “take possession of and exercise control over the property and any and all proceeds.”

Following Wednesday’s court order, B.C.’s Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate issued a public consumer alert, asking Murrayville homebuyers to call the Superintendent’s office and contact a lawyer “to fully understand their legal rights and remedies with respect to their purchase agreements.”

Murrayville was already the subject of an emergency order last month from Superintendent of Real Estate Micheal Noseworthy, ordering Chandler to immediately stop marketing the development, citing “a serious concern and a likelihood that the developer has sold one or more (Murrayville condo units) to more than one purchaser.” At least two lawsuits have already been filed on behalf of dozens of Murrayville homebuyers.

Mario Mainella, Bowra Group’s senior vice-president overseeing the Murrayville file, said the case was “extremely unusual” in some respects.

“When it gets to the point where a receiver’s appointed, there’s usually a number of problems,” Mainella said.

It’s much more common to see a receiver appointed to take over an incomplete, partly built project, he said, something that occurred after the 2008 financial crisis. It’s far less common to see a receiver appointed to take over a completed development like Murrayville.

But even though occupancy permits were issued for Murrayville in August, there are still a number of hurdles that exist before any sales can complete, considering the complex tangle of legal disputes and regulatory actions now facing Chandler and his project.

“Based on the feedback we’ve received from a number of the lenders and some of the legal counsel representing numerous presale purchasers,” Mainella said, “they lost faith in the developer.”

Murrayvile condo presale purchasers are encouraged to contact the Bowra Group at 604-689-8939.

“We’re just in an information gathering period,” Mainella said. “We have to do our investigation and our analysis to determine where things are at, because there’s a lot of moving parts here.”

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The Langley parents who are afraid of a sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) curriculum have been played.

On Sept. 26, a group of about 100 people stood outside the Langley Schools District 35 office in support of the trustees who had recently approved the SOGI 123 curriculum. (see sogieducation.com.)

Among those holding up signs and standing in solidarity with the trustees, were students, family members, friends and allies of LGBTQ students.

I wasn’t able to attend, since my current occupation had me stuck in Vancouver. During the two weeks leading up to this peaceful rally, I had been in communication with a few of these supporters who were responding to another group of parents. This first group had voiced strong opposition to SOGI, with a well-organized initiative that included a Facebook page and a website to raise money. 

The Langley parents who are afraid of SOGI gathered a few weeks earlier to listen to their organizers, who included Kari Simpson, Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson and New Westminster pastor Paul Dirks. A video was produced and posted on their Facebook page; it captured pastor Dirks’ impressive presentation, complete with slides and transcript. The title of his message was “Gay and Transgender Research.”

These concerned parents sat and listened in horror as Dirks cited study after study, which he claimed proved that LGBTQ, and in particular transgender people, suffer from mental illness. This, at least, is what most of those who sat through the presentation would have taken away. The message? SOGI should not be implemented and must be opposed. 

Thankfully, Dirks provided the names of the studies and the authors in the slides he projected. I took the time to note at what minute and second mark in the video each study was referenced. I then search the internet and contacted the authors I could find. I provided the link to the video and approximately when they were quoted; and I asked them these two simple questions: 1) Per his narrative, is he using your work accurately? 2) Do you have any commentary on the use of your research by this and/or similar groups?

Four of the authors quoted by Dirks have responded to my letter. All have basically said the same thing; they were misrepresented. 

Though Dirks may have presented some of their findings, he took them out of context; conveniently ignoring other facts and the authors’ scholarly discussions and conclusions. The implication being their work would actually support initiatives for LGBTQ inclusion. 

This raises the question of academic honesty and integrity; and, can the rest of the information in the presentation be trusted? (In a trial, a witness who is wilfully false in one material part of his or her testimony is usually not trusted in others.)

I sent the Langley Schools trustees an open letter Sept. 25, with the three responses I had received at the time of the writing. Since then, a fourth study representative has responded this way: “In terms of the quote attributed to our service, selective excerption changes the meaning intended by the original writer in the longer article.” 

Where does this leave all those concerned parents who sat through the presentation and the countless thousands who have now watched and shared the video? Someone shared the video with this comment: “Paul Dirk shares statistics which need to be known so we can better help those hurting and keep our young children from being led down this path in our public schools.”

Obviously, people want the facts; but when someone takes advantage of their sincerity with a calculated attempt to misinform with partial truths and excerptions out of context, then one needs to speak out. 

I want to tell the parents who are afraid of SOGI that they’ve been played. My heart goes out to them. They deserve to be told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Lisa Salazar holds a master’s degree in public and pastoral leadership from the Vancouver School of Theology and is doing an internship as a chaplain at St. Paul’s Hospital. Salazar is on the board of PFLAG Vancouver, a charitable organization founded by parents who wished to help themselves and their family members understand and accept their non-heterosexual children.

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A Langley student’s online petition to preserve the name of her high school has earned more than 16,000 signatures.

Halle Bottrell is a student at R.E. Mountain Secondary School, named after beloved educator Roy Edward Mountain, who was raised in Langley and taught or administrated in the community for more than 40 years. He died in 1975.

“If we were to take away our high school’s name, it would take away all the memories that have been made by past students and the legacy they have left,” Bottrell wrote in the introduction to her petition. “As REMSS is such a well-known school for the impact we have made in our community it would be a great loss if the name was changed.”

She said she never thought the petition would get so much attention.

Among the petition’s signatories are current students, their parents and graduates, who cited nostalgia and the school’s history as reasons to keep it named R.E. Mountain.

At least one member of Mountain’s family has also signed the petition. His niece, Traci Mountain, wrote to the school district to express her concern about the possibility of a name change.

“This school has roots. As much as Langley grows we should never forget where it once was,” she told the district. “Please don’t change a part of Langley’s legacy or dismiss the wonderful man he was.”

Construction is under way on a new secondary school in fast-growing Willoughby, right next to R.E. Mountain. The new school will be finished by fall 2019, at which time the 40-year-old secondary school will become a middle school.

Langley School District officials seemed baffled by the petition because the district has not decided on a name for the new school.

Roy Mountain was a long-time educator who taught in the 1930s through to 1971.

Superintendent Gord Stewart said anyone can suggest a name, and it may well be that R.E. Mountain is chosen for the new school. If that’s the case, a similar naming process will be undertaken for the middle school. If a different name is chosen for the new secondary school, the middle school will be named R.E. Mountain.

District spokesman Ken Hoff stressed that it is not the district’s intention to eliminate the name altogether.

“There is no decision on dropping the R.E. Mountain name — that’s not been a consideration,” Hoff said. “The only question is whether the new name applies to the middle school or secondary school.”

Sylvia Mountain, who married Roy Mountain’s now-deceased youngest son, said Roy Mountain was a well-known figure in the community.

“He was really, really well-respected and well-liked. He did a lot for the teachers and was a very strong advocate for teachers’ issues,” she said.

Having the high school named after him was significant for Mountain’s family, she said. Because most of his teaching and administrating was done at the high-school level, she thinks it would be most appropriate to have his name remain on the high school.

“I think because of his legacy in Langley, it’s really important to keep that name,” she said. “I think it might be significant to name the secondary school after him again and keep the name R.E. Mountain Secondary School as it is now.”

The school district began accepting submissions for a name for the new school last week. It is suggested that names reflect the geographical area or the names of prominent people, including deceased people.

The deadline for submissions is Oct. 30, and it’s expected that the school board, which will ultimately choose the name, will consider the submissions and make a decision by its December meeting. Bottrell commented on her petition that she will be attending the November meeting.

A submission form is available online and forms must be submitted to the school board office, either in person or by email. Details are available on the R.E. Mountain Secondary website (remss.sd35.bc.ca for print).

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Police are investigating after gunfire was reported in Langley early Sunday morning.

Just before 3:45 a.m., Langley RCMP received multiple calls about what sounded like gun shots in the 21000-block of 79A Avenue.

Police who arrived found no injuries but confirmed that an investigation has been launched. It remains unknown if the incident was a targeted incident against the residents at the location.

“At this time, investigators do not believe there is an increased threat to general public safety,” said Cpl. Craig van Herk in a statement.

“Langley RCMP is asking anyone who may have been in the area and noticed anyone suspicious to contact investigators.”

The area remained closed for investigation throughout Sunday morning.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Langley RCMP at 604-532-3200 or, if you wish to remain anonymous, via Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

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LANGLEY — A multimillion-dollar collection of vehicles was destroyed Wednesday when fire raced through a building in Langley.

Alyn Edwards, columnist who writes about classic cars and a good friend of the owners Garry and Darlene Cassidy, says they are devastated by their loss.

Edwards says the Cassidy’s are on their way back home from the United States after learning of the fire.

He says Garry Cassidy was in tears when he spoke with him on the phone over the loss of about 40 classic cars, most of them Chevy’s from the 1950s and 1960s.

The vehicles were insured, but Edwards says Garry Cassidy told him that many of the vehicles can’t be replaced.

Langley Township deputy fire Chief Bruce Ferguson says an alarm system alerted them to a fire early Wednesday, but by the time they arrived the flames were shooting out the roof of the two-storey building.

He says the cause of the fire in the approximately 740-square-metre building hasn’t been determined.

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An Abbotsford man is dead following a collision on Highway 1 in Langley.

Langley RCMP received a report about the three-vehicle crash, which happened near the eastbound 232nd Street exit, at about 5:20 a.m. on Tuesday.

When police arrived, they found two vehicles on the road and a black Acura in the ditch. The 40-year-old driver, and sole occupant, of the Acura was dead. The occupants of the other two vehicles weren’t injured.

The incident resulted in the highway being blocked for about five hours.

A second, three-vehicle crash near the 208th Street overpass didn’t help the traffic situation for eastbound commuters.

An officer came upon that incident en route to the 232nd Street crash. The collision blocked one lane and sent a car into the ditch. Minor injuries were reported.

“It certainly contributed to the delay on the road this morning,” said Const. Melissa Wutke, B.C. RCMP Traffic Services spokeswoman.

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More than 20,000 B.C. Hydro customers were left without power on Wednesday morning thanks to a downed wire.

B.C. Hydro spokeswoman Tanya Fish said the outage affected the Port Kells, Walnut Grove and Fort Langley areas.

Crews were brought in to make repairs and to switch affected customers to an alternative circuit so that as many customers as we possible could get their power back while repairs were being made.

As of 5 p.m., crews had restored power to nearly all affected customers, but continued to work on getting the lights on for a handful of homes.

Customers can check estimated restoration times as they become available at bchydro.com/outages.

A member of the 856 gang has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the fatal shooting of a prominent Hells Angel, Bob Green, at a party in Langley last year.

Jason Francis Wallace, 28, turned himself in to police the day after the Oct. 16, 2016, death of Green, outside a Quonset building used by the 856 as a makeshift clubhouse in the 23700-block of 72nd Avenue.

On Friday, Wallace pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter with a firearm in provincial court in Surrey. The second-degree murder charge he originally faced was stayed.

Wallace was sentenced to six years in jail.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team also confirmed officially for the first time Friday that the slaying and dismemberment of Shaun Clary, days after the Green shooting, was linked to the case.

Postmedia reported at the time that Clary was an 856 associate and that his murder was believed to be in retaliation for the death of Green, a member of the Mission City chapter of the notorious biker gang.  

Shaun Clary, victim of “barbaric” murder on Oct. 26, 2016, in Langley.

Clary had a minor criminal record and was close to many in the 856 gang. His remains were dumped on Robertson Crescent in Langley, near the driveway of a full-patch Hells Angel with the West Point chapter and near the property of a leader of the 856.

Green’s cousin Lenny Pelletier was also involved with the 856 gang and the shooting was believed to have occurred after an all-night party.

Wallace and Pelletier were co-accused in a drug trafficking case in which Wallace pleaded guilty earlier this year.

IHIT Cpl. Meghan Foster said Friday that “Green was a well-established member of an organized crime group, and investigators have identified links from his murder to the murder of Shaun Allan Clary that occurred overnight on October 24, 2016.”   

Hell’s Angel Bob Green.

“While investigators can say that there are links between these two murders, it cannot be confirmed that they are linked to other homicides, or current gang conflict,” she said.

Foster said IHIT investigators continue to work on the Clary case, though no one has been charged.

Memorial to Hells Angel Bob Green. The photo was posted online on the first anniversary of his death.

“It has been just over a year since this heinous act was made a public display, and it will not be forgotten,” she said. “There are individuals who have specific and intimate details about what happened to Mr. Clary, and investigators are urging those people to contact police.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact IHIT at 1-877-551-4448 or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca. 

Green, 56, started as a bartender at the Drake Hotel on Powell Street and rose to become one of the most powerful Hells Angels in B.C.

He started with the bikers’ East End chapter, then later moving to the elite Nomads chapter. At the time of his death, he had joined the Mission City branch.

Hundreds of bikers from across Canada attended his funeral in the pounding rain, most donning the three-piece patches of their chapter or puppet club. Police watched the process of Harleys, cars, trucks and stretch limos.

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Property on 72nd Avenue where Hells Angel Bob Green was killed.

One man is in hospital after he was shot during a violent home invasion in Aldergrove Wednesday night.

Shortly before 7:30 p.m., Langley RCMP received multiple calls to the area of 266 Street and 29 Avenue. 

When they arrived they discovered that several people had forced their way into the residence. A 27-year-old Langley man suffering from gunshot wounds was taken to the hospital. 

Langley RCMP’s serious crime section has taken over the investigation.

Investigators say the attackers fled and there have been no arrests. They believe the residence was targeted.

The gun shot victim was expected to survive.

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Backpacks that are said to be custom-built for the needs of people who are living on the street are set to be distributed for the first time in Abbotsford and Langley.

“Demand is through the roof,” said Jeremy Hunka from the Union Gospel Mission. The backpacks — produced in partnership with the Citypak Project and Wolfe Auto Group — proved to be popular when they were handed out last year in Vancouver, New Westminster and Surrey.

With homelessness growing in eastern parts of the Lower Mainland, organizers decided to distribute bags to Abbotsford and Langley as well.

According to UGM, “the custom-built backpacks are specifically designed for life on the street, featuring a built-in rain poncho, compression straps for bedding, reflective straps, durable material and anti-theft loops.”

With the help of Wolfe Auto Group, UGM will hand 750 bags over to organizations that work with the homeless across the region. At least 300 of those will be distributed in Surrey, Langley and Abbotsford.

“After witnessing the impact these survival bags had on individuals last year we knew our good deed went a long way,” Wolfe Auto Group’s Tristan Schon said in a media release. “We really wanted to bring Citypak to charities in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley again this year.”

The Union Gospel Mission distributed Citypaks to homeless people across the Lower Mainland beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 8. 

Two people, Christine and William, who received bags on Wednesday, said they’d been sharing a small backpack to store their important documents since moving to Vancouver in July. They’re from Campbell River, where they were left homeless after the building was sold and the new owners evicted the tenants in order to renovate.

The couple have been couch surfing with friends in Vancouver while looking for new permanent housing.

“It’s hard to share one bag …. we’re trying to keep our organized papers in one spot, but we end up mixing them up because we are in a rush or losing stuff because one bag is not big enough for two people. I know the bag will help lots.”

Citypak, founded in Chicago, has handed out more that 41,000 backpacks in 107 cities across North America.

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The Union Gospel Mission distributing Citypaks to homeless people across the Lower Mainland beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 8.

A woman says someone fired at her car following a road rage incident on Thursday morning.

According to the Surrey RCMP, shortly after 10 a.m. a woman reported that the occupants of a vehicle “being driven erratically” had engaged in road rage and then had shot at her vehicle in the 19200-block of 72nd Avenue.

Shortly afterwards, that vehicle was involved in a collision near the intersection of 200 Street and 72nd Avenue in Langley. The collision was described by police as “relatively minor.”

According to a media release, police believe “impairment is a factor” in the collision. When officers determined the vehicle was the one allegedly involved in the shooting they arrested the occupants.

RCMP spokesman Cpl. Scotty Schumann said “no formal charges have been laid as of yet.”

Anyone with more information is asked to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502.

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Operation Red Nose will run in 11 B.C. communities this year, but not in Langley and Surrey.

The national non-profit organization says the local group that usually organizes the campaign in Surrey and Langley was unable to commit to the free sober ride service this year.

Spokesman David Latouche says it is not unusual to have groups drop out. 

He says it is too late to find a replacement group for this year since the program starts next week, but they are confident they will find volunteers to take it on the region next year. Larouche says anyone interested in participating in the 2018 campaign should visit operationrednose.com.

Operation Red Nose kicked off its 2017 campaign last week. In a release, the organization says more than 55,000 volunteers are getting ready to take part in Canada’s largest safe ride home service.

Two double-decker buses will make their debut on Metro Vancouver streets next week as part of a three-month pilot project.

“These buses are wrapped and ready to go,” TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond said at a launch event Thursday.

TransLink has received two buses, supplied free of charge, from British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis. The buses arrived last week and have been outfitted with equipment such as fare boxes and Compass Card readers. Drivers are in the process of being trained.

The buses will be tested on a number of highway routes, including: 301 Newton Exchange/Brighouse Station; 311 Scottsdale Exchange to Bridgeport station; 351/354 White Rock/South Surrey to Bridgeport; 555 Carvolth Exchange to Lougheed station; and 601/620 South Delta/Tsawwassen to Bridgeport.

In preparation for the double-deckers’ arrival, TransLink ran a test bus fitted with a frame to mimic the profile of a double-decker bus along the routes to identify and deal with any obstructions, like branches or power lines.

“Yes, these buses actually do fit through the Massey Tunnel,” said Dan Savitsky, vice-president of maintenance for Coast Mountain Bus Company. “I’m sure there will be several people ducking if they’re sitting on the upper deck the first time they go through, but the buses were specifically selected because they do fit through the tunnel.”

Desmond said double-decker buses are best suited to highway travel because they’re comfortable and can carry more passengers. They can accommodate more than 80 people with room for four people with mobility devices and have up to 83-per-cent more seating than highway coaches.

They are also better for routes with fewer stops, so it’s unlikely they’ll appear on urban routes like the 99 B-Line.

Desmond said overall ridership is booming — through October boardings are up 6.4 per cent and journeys are up six per cent over last year — and buses are crowded. Double-decker buses are one solution.

“We have to find solutions now and in the future to managing the capacity of our oversubscribed transportation network, and that includes our transit system,” Desmond said.

Desmond pointed out that double-deckers aren’t a new concept.

“They are new for TransLink, but they are operated all over the world,” he said, including Greater Victoria and between Seattle and Everett in Washington state.

Customers can provide feedback on the double-decker buses in an online survey that will be available at translink.ca/doubledecker.

“We anticipated these buses will be a hit with our customers and look forward to hearing from them,” said Savitsky.

TransLink will include the cost of 32 diesel double-decker buses in its upcoming request to Metro for federal gas-tax money. Five of those buses will help expand the fleet and 27 will replace existing buses. They’re expected to arrive in 2019.

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Police in Langley have arrested a youth believed to be the “suspicious male” connected with a lockdown at a Langley school Wednesday.

Langley RCMP Corp. Holly Largy says the 17-year-old Langley teen has been released from custody on a number of conditions.

Brookswood Secondary School was locked down Wednesday afternoon. The incident began in the morning following a confrontation between a Brookswood student and the suspect involving pepper spray.

Police believe the suspect returned to the school grounds later in the day and may have been in possession of a firearm. 

The firearm has not been recovered and  investigators say there are multiple witnesses still to be interviewed.  

Largy says the possibility the firearm was a replica is under investigation.

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A young man is dead after a shooting in Langley and police say the death may be linked to recent gang violence in Metro Vancouver.

Cpl. Frank Jang of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says investigators have confirmed 21-year-old Dai Duong of Abbotsford was the victim of the homicide.

Police are confirming 21-year-old Dai Duong of Abbotsford was the victim of homicide in Langley on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017.

The shooting happened late Thursday at a townhouse complex in the 8100-block of 204th Street to reports of shots fired. Police found a man with gunshot wounds in the backyard of a home.

Duong was pronounced dead in hospital.

Jang says Duong was known to police and associated with gang activity. While it’s early in the investigation, officers believe the murder was not random.

The latest incident is among a series of shootings and murders in the Lower Mainland that police have said is likely connected to gang activity.

The mayors of Vancouver and Surrey, who are also the outgoing chair and vice-chair of the regional mayors’ council on transportation, are emphasizing the need to keep major transit projects “on track” despite comments from the incoming chair suggesting a possible slowdown.

Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner.

In separate interviews with Postmedia, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner stressed the need to move ahead — and quickly — with Metro Vancouver’s 10-year transportation plan, including the major rapid transit projects slated for the region’s two largest municipalities.

Their comments come after Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan was elected this month to replace Robertson as chair of the Mayor’s Council on Regional Transportation, leading to comments from both observers and Corrigan himself that the change in leadership could result in a “slow down” of regional transportation plans.

The three-phase, 10-year transportation plan includes three high-priority mega-projects: the Broadway subway expansion in Vancouver, a light-rail system for Surrey and Langley, and the replacement of the Pattullo Bridge (pictured) connecting New Westminster and Surrey.

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan.

But Corrigan has been an outspoken critic of the plan. In 2014, when the mayors’ council approved the plan and Corrigan was the lone member opposing it, Postmedia reported he believed “Metro should have gone with a more realistic plan.”

And now, three years after the adoption of the plan and with funding agreements expected to be confirmed in the coming months, slowing down is not an acceptable option, said Robertson and Hepner.

“We desperately need more transit investment … We need to keep this plan on track,” Robertson said. “Slowing down transportation investment would be insane, in an affordability crisis with massive growth affecting our region.”

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Meanwhile, Hepner said Corrigan’s comments about slowing things down “really did give me some consternation.”

“I thought: ‘Wow, we’ve never had this much money on the table ever from two different levels of government. Slowing down is exactly what we do not need to do,’” Hepner said. 

Corrigan did not reply to a request for comment Monday, but on the day of his election as council chair, the CBC reported his comments “suggested the current strategy was too aggressive.”

“They’re looking at a very ambitious plan. And I think they were trying to proceed very quickly to accomplish everything in the plan. I think there will be a slow down,” Corrigan told the CBC.

“So, what I’m going to do is prioritize with them those discussions around how we’re going to be able to move forward over the next year in establishing our priorities. And, I think definitely, the question is what are our priorities for the new provincial government to address?” 

In October, before the council’s leadership shakeup, Corrigan told Postmedia that Robertson and Hepner had “a vested interest in being on the board because both of them have major projects that they’re pushing forward.”

Artist’s concept of a new subway station under Broadway at Oak, from a study on the proposed SkyTrain extension along Broadway.

But Robertson said last week those major projects planned for Vancouver and Surrey are needed for the entire region — not only for the benefit of those two municipalities. On the Broadway subway expansion, Robertson said, more than 60 per cent of the ridership is expected to come from outside the City of Vancouver.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson.

Robertson said Corrigan “has been consistently against our 10-year plan,” so his comments about slowing down now are “nothing new.”

Asked if the time is right to slow things down and reconsider the plan, Robertson’s response was immediate and blunt.

“Hell no,” Robertson replied. “Build, baby, build.”

Vancouver’s Broadway corridor is host to both the busiest bus route in North America, according to the city’s Transportation 2040 plan, and the second-largest employment area in all of B.C., after downtown Vancouver.

Corrigan has experience on regional transit planning, having served as chair of B.C. Transit in the 1990s. But he has also been, in the past, critical of rapid transit developments, including the Canada Line.

While Corrigan publicly sings the praises of cheaper buses over faster, more expensive-to-build rapid transit, his own municipality is already well-served by the latter. Burnaby, with a population of just over 232,000 and 11 SkyTrain stations, has more rapid transit stations per resident than Vancouver (which has a population of around 631,000 and 21 SkyTrain stations).

Hepner said she originally thought about putting her name forward again for the vice-chair position, but decided against it after Corrigan defeated Robertson in a secret ballot of the region’s mayors. She was replaced by District of North Vancouver Mayor Richard Walton.

Asked this week about her decision not to pursue the chance to be vice-chair alongside Corrigan, Hepner said: “I like to look for consensus, and I’m not a contrarian, and I think that it would have been a difficult spot for me to be in the position of a vice-chair when the chair has more of a reputation for being confrontational than I do.”

Earlier this month, Walton downplayed the impact of Corrigan’s leadership on the major projects of the 10-year transit plan, telling the North Shore News: “The Vancouver and Surrey projects are very much a part of the vision. When we came up with the vision three or four years ago, every community made compromises in order to all agree and shake hands … There are 23 of us on the Mayors’ Council. We all think for ourselves. I don’t think (Corrigan’s) chairing the Mayors’ Council is going to have any more impact than it would, really, if he were sitting as a member.”

“As incoming chair, he has responsibilities to chair our meetings, but, ultimately, decisions are made by the whole mayors’ council and we’ve had strong consensus for years to make transit improvements aggressively across the region, and I don’t see that changing at all,” Robertson said. “The clock is ticking on the federal investment of billions that we need to land here … The opportunity is now. and we’ve been working relentlessly at it for years, the moment has come, so this is no time to slow anything down. Quite the opposite.” 

Robertson said he hopes to see work on all three major projects underway as soon as possible, with funding arrangements finalized early in the new year, followed by the procurement process, and construction beginning by late 2018 or in 2019. Work on all three projects, he said, can and should be done concurrently.

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JD Farms Bistro

24726 52 Ave., Langley | 604-856-2431

Open: Monday-Saturday (9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.); Sunday (10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.); jdfarms.ca

If you’ve ever wondered if there are more than 100 different ways to enjoy turkey, there are. And JD Farms proves it.

“Everything that we sell here is made with turkey,” says Marilyn Morgan, who runs the Langley-based farm with her brother, Jason Froese.

“We make over 130 products using turkey, from sausages, to lasagnas and pizzas, to soups and turkey wraps.” 

Seeing turkey — the ultimate holiday and leftovers food — done in so many different ways sometimes stops new customers in their tracks, Morgan admits. 

“When people come in they say, ‘I never thought you could do this much,'” she adds with a laugh.

Boasting more than two decades in the turkey business, its safe to say the family behind the Fraser Valley operation has reached expert level for raising — and eating — the poultry birds.  

“My parents started with the turkeys 25 years ago, but they bought the farm in 1979,” Morgan says. “Our dad realized there was an opening in the market for a specialty turkey because there wasn’t anything out there … There wasn’t anything really in the middle that was a specialty turkey that was also antibiotic free.” 

Now, with Morgan and her brother at the helm — and with a little input from their dad, of course — the specialty turkey business is bigger than ever. JD Farms works with six other area farms to raise the birds. 

“My dad’s involved from an arm’s reach,” Morgan says of her father Jack Froese, who is mayor of the Township of Langley. “With all (the farms), it’s about 150,000 turkeys per year.” 

JD Farms turkeys are all registered with the Global Animal Partnership, a non-profit organization that aims to improve farm animal welfare.  

“We get calls from people asking, ‘Are your turkeys happy turkeys?’,” she says with a laugh. “Yes, our turkeys are happy turkeys. We take good care of our turkeys.

“They have lots of room to run around in, and (they) have free access to food and water whenever they want.” 

The farm’s happy turkey can be tasted at the JD Farms bistro, which serves up fresh, country food with an emphasis on local and a friendly community feel. The bistro, which is housed in the main building featuring the kitchen and assorted food sales, began after Morgan’s parents realized the small store behind the original farmhouse wasn’t cutting it anymore. 

“In 2006 they realized they were expanding and didn’t have enough room there,” she explains. “And they decided to open the bistro to create a place where locals could come and enjoy our turkey.” 

The cafeteria-style setup has a casual country feel, with quick counter service offering made-to-order sandwiches, soups, wraps, hot meals and more — as well as a handful of tables for enjoying them at. 

“We have a lot of regulars that come in,” she says of the bistro’s repeat customers.  “But we are getting a lot of new discovery traffic, as well.”

A turkey wrap from JD Farms Bistro in Langley.

Morgan says the Shop 248 initiative, which sees JD Farms partner with other local enterprises along the rural road including the Otter Co-Op, Bonetti Meats, Thunderbird Show Park, Kensington Prairie Farm and Krause Berry Farm to promote their local products, has been a huge help in bringing new customers to the farm. 

“All along the road, we cross-market each other,” she explains. “It’s really great.”

And it appears to be working.

On a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon, the bistro and attached shop were buzzing, with most of the visitors in line clad in their well-worn work jeans and barn boots ordering turkey sandwiches and portable wraps. 

“I do think the sandwiches are the most popular items on the menu, definitely. And wraps have grown a lot, too,” Morgan says.  “Those are what you see going out the door.” 

As one would expect at a turkey farm, the meat appears in virtually every dish on the menu. Each iteration our table tried saw the meat served in lean and flavourful cuts. 

The classic turkey sandwich featured simple slices of turkey sans seasoning. We chose to forgo any finicky sauces or fussy vegetables and instead had the moist slabs of meat with a gooey spread of cranberry sauce. Paired with the house-made sourdough cranberry bread it was a feast-inspired eat that was sweet and savoury and not too heavy.

“Everybody loves it — sourdough and cranberry — it just goes along with turkey really, really well. It’s one of our favourites.,” Morgan says of the fresh bread.  “We’ve started making all of our sandwich bread and all of our loaves in-house. And we sell them, as well.”

Vegetarian options are limited on the menu, but the choose-your-toppings vegetarian sandwich was fresh and delicious featuring a selection of cheese and crisp veggies on that same delicious, house-made bread. 

For dessert, the bistro serves up dessert options from Krause Berry Farms.

A Krause Berry Farm cherry pie slice from JD Farms Bistro in Langley.

“We’ve had them right from the beginning,” Morgan says of the berry confections from the neighbours. 

In the attached market, shoppers can find more local fare from Krause, as well as cranberry sauce and dressings from Cranberries Naturally in Fort Langley, Anita’s Organic from Chilliwack, and Hardbite Potato Chips from Maple Ridge. 

“We try to do as much local as we can,” Morgan says.

After receiving direct requests from local customers, the farm also now offers raw dog and cat food as well as freeze-dried treats. 

“Since we’ve been in this business, we’ve had customers come in looking for specific cuts of meat for their pets,” Morgan says. “We thought we could put something out there that’s really quality-driven and local, that you don’t see out there. It’s our specialty turkeys with 95 per cent meat, bones and organs and five per cent fruits and veggies, and then balanced with vitamins and minerals. It’s super healthy and easy to feed.” 

Perhaps the best part about this Fraser Valley farm, shop and eatery, are the affordable prices. Our lunch party of four people consumed a wrap, two sandwiches, soup, two cans of soda and a piece of pie — all for less than $45. 

 “It is very important to try to make things affordable,” Morgan says. “It’s really pricey to live in Langley and we want to put out a good product at an affordable price.”

Mission accomplished. 

Aharris@postmedia.com

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An advocate for seniors wants Fraser Health to stop placing young people with mental health and addiction problems in a complex run by the Langley Lions Senior Citizens Housing Society.

“Residents are frightened,” said Kory Down. “Housing the mentally ill and addicts with fragile seniors amounts to authoritative abuse of seniors.”

The Lions complex on 203 Street behind the Langley Mall has provided affordable housing to seniors and people with disabilities since the 1970s, according to the society’s website. It was founded with the vision of “providing affordable housing to seniors.” Seven buildings contain 625 units, including 58 assisted living units.

Fraser Health confirmed 25 mental health clients have been placed in the independent living units through its mental health and substance use program. An official could not confirm the ages of the residents, but she said Fraser Health has never received a complaint about its clients there.

“It’s not unlike anyone else living in the community. They’re living among people in the complex — the same as they would be in the community,” said Jacqueline Blackwell.

A risk assessment and application process is completed before a person is placed at the Lions complex. Each of the 25 residents is supported by a case manager and an on-site contractor that has been hired by Fraser Health to provide services to its clients at the complex.

Postmedia spoke to two seniors who live at the complex and objected to the influx of people in their 20s and 30s. Neither wanted to give their name for fear of repercussions from their neighbours and complex’s management.

A 65-year-old woman said she felt “duped” after moving into what she thought was a seniors village. Several months ago, she was in the building’s laundry room when a man came in and began kicking the washing machines, she said. He made a lewd comment before she was able to leave.

A 78-year-old man said young people “come and go” from the buildings at all hours of the day and night.

The seniors took their concerns to management last year, as well as to the Langley Seniors Community Action Table. The action group raised the issue at a meeting at Langley Memorial Hospital on Dec. 6, which was attended by representatives from Fraser Health, the Langley Lions Senior Citizen Housing Society and the Langley Senior Resources Society.

According to an email summary of the meeting obtained by Postmedia, the issue of safety at the Lions complex was discussed, including concerns about “mixing ‘at risk’ tenants with the ‘regular’ seniors population.” In response, the group decided to draft a proposal for a tenants’ council at the Lions complex.

But Down said she’s worried a tenants’ council won’t address the issue. She fears the Lions complex is being used as a “Riverview satellite,” a reference to the former mental health hospital.

“The Lions call themselves a seniors housing society, with an additional focus on people with disabilities,” she said. “It is quite a stretch to say people with serious mental health issues and hard-to-house male drug addicts have disabilities that fit” within that.

In a statement, B.C. Housing said it has an ongoing “funding relationship” with the Langley Lions Senior Citizen Housing Society and will provide the society with $400,000 in subsidies in 2017-18. “The resident selection and tenant mix is determined by the society, providing affordable housing in the immediate area to those in need.”

Postmedia contacted the Langley Lions Senior Citizens Housing Society for comment, but calls and emails were not returned on Thursday and Friday.

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Four former United Nations gang members who testified against alleged hitman Cory Vallee were trying to “save their own skin” and should not be believed, defence lawyer Eric Gottardi said Tuesday.

At the start of his team’s closing arguments, Gottardi said the “linchpin” witnesses, who can be identified only as A, B, C and D due to a sweeping publication ban, “escaped punishment for murders” and got other perks by co-operating with the Crown.

“They did not just get money. They received a small fortune,” he told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon. “They did not just learn about the crimes, they participated in them as accomplices. They did not just collude – they researched and studied the Crown disclosure and related media reports.”

Vallee is charged with conspiring to kill Jonathan, Jarrod and Jamie Bacon between Jan. 1, 2008, and Feb. 8, 2009, as well as the Feb. 6, 2009, murder of their associate, Kevin LeClair.

Over months of evidence last year, the former UN gangsters-turned-Crown witnesses said Vallee was a UN hitman brought in to kill the Bacons. And they testified that he was one of two triggermen who shot LeClair with an AR-15 outside a Langley grocery store on a busy Friday afternoon.

But Gottardi said Vallee should not be convicted on the basis of the testimony of admitted criminals.

“The Crown’s evidence in this case falls markedly short of establishing that Cory Vallee was the person who shot and killed Kevin LeClair. It falls markedly short of establishing that Cory Vallee was an out-of-town hitman named Frankie. And it even fails to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Vallee was a full-fledged member of the UN or the conspiracy until after the indictment period, if at all,” Gottardi said.

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He pointed to the fact that two of the witnesses, A and D, originally told police Vallee was the shooter who killed Jonathan Barber on May 9, 2008, when the UN mistook the stereo installer for one of the Bacon brothers.

Then when B and C decided to co-operate with police in 2016, they told a different story, identifying the Barber killer as UN member Barzan Tilli-Choli.

By then Tilli-Choli had already pleaded guilty to conspiracy and could not be retried as the murderer. He has since served his sentence and been deported to Iraq.

“Not so long ago, Cory Vallee was on trial for two murders. It should not be lost on anyone that based on the lies told by (D) and (A), Mr. Vallee would have been at risk of facing two life sentences,” Gottardi said.

Then B and C came forward “who say someone completely different killed Mr. Barber — a person who at this stage was not convicted of that murder nor ever will be because these witnesses waited until they had to save their own skin to come forward.”

In terms of the LeClair hit, there was more evidence suggesting witness C was one of the shooters than there was against Vallee, Gottardi said.

“We started out submissions by asking a question: Who killed Kevin LeClair? In our respectful submissions, the weight of the objective and circumstantial evidence (excluding the bald assertions of the accomplices) suggests that (C) is the most likely person to have shot Kevin LeClair,” Gottardi said.

“We do not know for sure and with respect we may never know. We know one thing. It was the UN gang that was responsible. We know (B) participated.”

The defence is also claiming the Crown has not proven that a person referred to as Frankie and Panther by other UN members in intercepted conversations is in fact Vallee.

“If anyone were to ask any of us who have sat through this trial and heard the evidence, can you say definitively, can you say beyond a reasonable doubt, that you are confident as to who pulled the trigger on that AR-15? The answer on this evidence, with these witnesses, has to be no,” Gottardi said.

“We have strong suspicion, or a well-informed theory, but it does not give rise to the legal certitude necessary to find Mr. Vallee guilty of murder.”

The defence team is expected to take a week to deliver its closing arguments, before Dillon reserves her decision in the case.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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Police in Langley are warning residents to lock their inside doors if they leave garage door openers in their vehicles.

The reminder comes after a woman woke up in her Walnut Grove home early Thursday morning and found a man dressed in black stealing items in her living room.

RCMP say the burglar made no move toward the woman, who screamed and chased him out of the house.

They say before the intruder woke anyone up, he located the keys to their Audi SUV and stole the vehicle out of the garage.

Access to the home was gained by using a garage door opener in a vehicle parked in the driveway.

Other items taken from the home included a purse and wallet, a cellphone and the keys to both vehicles.

Police say no one was injured. They are reminding the public that a garage door opener is like a key to the house.

“Please consider removing the opener from your vehicle each day, particularly when you are parking outside. The second thing to remember is to lock your inner garage door so criminals aren’t able to access your home or family. Two small things can make such a difference,” Cpl. Holly Largy said in a statement.

ticrawford@postmedia.com