Editor: Your insightful column (The Times, Oct. 28) regarding the upcoming election has struck a chord with many of your readers.
Your referring to the unfolding event as an “unusual election” seems, to the many, to be an understatement of significance.
The lack of all-candidates meetings is boldly standing out for all to see. The question to be pondered and then asked is — why?
Two special interest groups, the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce and the Langley Township firefighters’ union, have hosted three events.
On Oct. 14, the chamber held a mayoralty debate at the Langley Golf Centre. The venue itself was relatively small and the number of tickets, at $50 each for non-chamber members, was limited.
On Oct. 17, the firefighter’s union held an all-candidates meeting at the Willoughby Hall. The pre-prepared questions for the candidates were predominantly “specific position” questions of interest to the firefighters (who were, at that point, in the midst of contract negotiations with the Township) and did not necessarily address any concerns of the residents in attendance.
On Oct. 28, the chamber hosted an all-candidates evening at the Langley Events Centre. Given the contentious issues in Willoughby and in Walnut Grove, the large turn-out was to be anticipated and was clearly indicative of the public interest in all of the candidates running in this election.
Now, stop here and consider that the only two all-candidates events accessible to the general public have been held in the northwest portion of Langley Township. There are many communities within the boundaries of our municipality and most of these communities have issues and concerns specific to their areas. Aldergrove (and their pool issue) comes immediately to mind. Where and when will there be an all-candidates meeting in Aldergrove?
The people of Langley need the opportunity to see the range of candidates with their own eyes, to listen to them with their own ears and to ask their own questions of the candidates before them. The people of Langley should not be denied this opportunity.
An uninformed citizen will do one of the two things: vote for a recognized name or not vote at all. This favours the incumbents, of course, but it is a marked disservice to the new candidates who have put their names forward in this election.
With the new four-year terms for the soon-to-be mayor and council, it is time for each of us of voting age to sit up, pay attention, become informed, become involved and we need to get out and vote. The results of the 2014 election we will have to live with, and four years can be a very long time.
As you said in your final sentence, “some scrutiny before election day is very useful.”
I. McKaig,
Langley
Editor’s note — Since this letter was written, several candidates’ meetings have been announced. See this story.
