Democracy in Langford?

letter to the editor
Monday Magazine Feb. 27, 2008

Read the rest of this entry »

Skirt Mountain condo developer sues Bear Mountain

LANGFORD, BC — Victoria resident Ben Isitt has obtained a Statement of Claim filed on February 20, 2008 in the Vancouver Court Registry against the Bear Mountain Master Parternship (BMMP), LGB9 and Len Barrie, CEO of Bear Mountain. The applicant, QMP Developments Inc. (“Quigg at Bear Mountain”), is a holding company associated with Vancouver developer Robert Quigg, who Langford mayor Stew Young described as “‘the’ developer in Canada right now” in a May 2007 interview. Quigg had planned to build 1000 luxury condominium units on Skirt Mountain, valued at $1.4 billion.

In the lawsuit against Bear Mountain, Quigg’s company QMP alleges that Len Barrie made false and negligent representations including “that a new Bear Mountain interchange was being built by BMMP to connect to the Island highway, and that construction would be complete on the interchange by the end of 2008.” Read the rest of this entry »

No point in suing penniless protesters

Times Colonist
Published: Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Re: “Langford to sue highway protesters,” Feb. 26.

Langford Mayor Stew Young has admitted that the Bear Mountain Interchange protesters have no money, but he wants Langford taxpayers to pay the legal costs of a lawsuit that he admits will gain nothing. Clearly, when a government goes after individuals in this way, the goal is intimidation, not recovery of costs. Read the rest of this entry »

City of Langford Again Abandoned Commitment to Fiscal Responsibility
in Massive Police Response

Langford Mayor confirms he committed our city to a massive police
action despite not knowing how much the bill would be or what
proportion of it Langford taxpayers would have to pay.

February 26, 2008
Langford

Organisers behind the petition that previously questioned the
political process and fiscal accountability of the City of Langford’s
plans to borrow $25 million without public approval, are now
questioning how the city could have engaged in a multi-day police
action where the costs were not known and Langford’s share of the
costs had not yet been negotiated.

In a statement to the media, Langford Mayor Stew Young indicated he
plans to sue protesters to recover costs that even now, weeks after
the incident, are still under negotiation Read the rest of this entry »

letter to the Times Colonist

Saturday, February 23, 2008

As a citizen of Langford (14 years), I am dumbfounded and outraged that Langford’s mayor and council have allowed construction to begin for the Spencer Road interchange.

This is happening despite these facts:

- More than 2,250 Langford residents (more than 10 per cent of the electorate) signed a petition asking them not to proceed until a referendum was called about borrowing $25 million to lend to developers for this project.

- The financing has yet to be secured.

- The bylaws creating the agreement to build the interchange had not even been adopted.

Is this the new democratic process in Canada? Read the rest of this entry »

Another, somewhat differently, edited version of this letter appeared in the Times Colonist, and is available here.

- Steven Hurdle -

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letter to the Goldstream News Gazette

Feb. 20, 2008

As a 14-year citizen of Langford I am dumfounded and outraged that last Wednesday Langford mayor and council allowed construction to begin for the Spencer Road Interchange.

More than 2,250 Langford residents signed a petition asking them not to proceed until a referendum was called about borrowing $25 million to lend to developers for this project.

This construction has begun even though the financing has yet to be secured. The bylaws creating the agreement to build the interchange have not even been adopted. Read the rest of this entry »

letter to the Goldstream News Gazette

Feb. 20, 2008

There has been a lot of press about the interchange over the past few weeks. I for one hope that the citizens of Langford do not get stuck with the costs of this interchange.

Although it appears that the City of Langford has taken due diligence in having the developers land as security on the loan, I for one wonder what would happen if the developer would develop the easiest parts of their lands and then default on the loan balance and let the City take over the undeveloped lands.

This would stick the citizens with not only the balance owing on the loans but also the costs to develop the rest of the lands.

I also am concerned that now the developers have the City at a disadvantage. For the City to recover the interchange costs they must approve development plans for the area. Read the rest of this entry »

For more coverage of the eviction of protesters at the Bear Mountain Interchange (Spencer Road Interchange), watch this Youtube video: “bear mountain eviction- Feb. 13th and 14th, 2008″

Part one is a news broadcast, part two is an interview with Saanich hereditary chief Eric Pelkey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSHoP1hIzYM

   This press release references events covered in more detail in this news article. 

- Steven Hurdle -

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PRESS RELEASE

February 13, 2008
Langford

Langford has demonstrated a lack of respect towards its citizens and the democratic process.

On February 13, Langford officially began work on the Spencer Road Interchange by calling in a large police presence, reported to number over 50, along with Langford Bylaw Officers to forcibly remove the half a dozen tree-sitters and tear out trees at the end of Leigh Road.

This despite the fact that over 2250 Langford citizens (more than 10% of eligible voters) signed a petition asking for a public referendum to approve the $25 million borrowing for the project, that the financing for the interchange has not been secured, and that the bylaws creating the agreement to build the Interchange have not yet been adopted by Langford City Council.

“Langford has not received approval from the province’s Inspector of Municipalities to borrow the $25 million, and yet they talk and act like everything is all approved. It is not,” says Cheryl McLachlan, who took part in the canvassing. “Additionally, after adopting the Spencer Road Interchange bylaw in late January, Council in early February repealed it and introduced a new bylaw to replace it that they have not yet adopted. At this time, even Langford has not given final approval to the project.”

Steven Hurdle, who organized the petition, questions the timing of today’s events. Hurdle states: “The City has made no attempt to open a dialogue with the thousands of Langford residents who signed the petition, other than Deputy Mayor Denise Blackwell’s suggestion that those citizens might not have understood what they were doing. Langford Councillors brag about how many public meetings they’ve held about the project but, up until the poorly advertised December 27th, 2007 special meeting of the council, these were all about building the Spencer Road interchange and none were about borrowing $25 million dollars or the lack of a public approval process. I believe the signatories knew exactly what they were doing and they deserve to be respected for taking a stand; they signed not because they thought their taxes would immediately go up but because they are concerned and want a say in their community. Some of the signatories would vote in favour, but they want a chance to have their say in a referendum.” Read the rest of this entry »

TRANS-CANADA OVERPASS
BRENNAN CLARKE
Special to The Globe and Mail
February 14, 2008

VICTORIA — Three people were arrested as armed RCMP officers executed an early-morning raid on a protest camp on the outskirts of Victoria yesterday.

“They came in with an entire tactical squad of people with assault rifles and rousted everyone out before dawn,” said Zoe Blunt, the group’s spokeswoman. “It was a well-organized operation.”

Members of the group have been living on the patch of provincially owned forest land in Langford since last April, hoping to halt work on a $32-million overpass on the nearby Trans-Canada Highway. Read the rest of this entry »