December 1 Council Notes: Provincial Bill M216 Makes Community Less Safe, Gender-Based Violence, City Fees and Charges

Back in 2022, the Langley Housing & Homelessness Table created an action plan, which called, among other things, for a public awareness program to help people understand the experiences of people who are victims of gender-based violence. In September, Council also received a presentation from Battered Women’s Support Services and their #DesignedWithSurvivors campaign.

Council passed a motion to incorporate gender-based violence public awareness, prevention, and education into the upcoming National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women on December 6th. There will be an event at McBurney Plaza between 10am and 11am on Saturday, December 6th, which will include a moment of silence to honour women who have died due to gender-based violence.

Currently, a private member's bill, M216 - 2025: Professional Reliance Act, is making its way through the provincial legislature. Sometimes, local governments require a peer review of construction designs due to risk. For example, Langley City used to accept certified geotechnical designs for building parkades without double-checking them. As you may recall, we had a cave-in or partial cave-in during the construction of two parkades in December 2022 and August 2024. One almost took out an adjacent building. As a response, the City now requires a peer review of these designs to reduce real risk to public safety. Bill M216 would strip local governments of the ability to require peer review or challenge designs. This bill will make our communities less safe. As such, Council approved the City to submit input to the BC Legislature about this dangerous bill.

Council also addressed some financial matters. As part of the budget process, Council needs to set the fees for water, sewer, and solid waste collection services for 2026. Council gave first, second, and third reading to update the water fees. The water fee is increasing by $0.17 per cubic meter to $2.06 per cubic meter. The flat base fee of $75.00 remains. The average detached homeowner will see their water charges increase to $754.80 in 2026, an increase of $56.10 or 8% over 2025. The average strata homeowner will see their water charges increase to $466.40, an increase of $32.30 or 7.4% over 2025.

Council also gave first, second, and third reading of a bylaw to update various fees and charges to account for inflation. You can view these fees on the City’s website.

As I’ve been posting about, Council gave third reading to both the Official Community Plan update and the new zoning bylaw. Council also adopted our 2026 meeting schedule. You can view the schedule of meetings on the City’s website.