Where does Langley Strong stand on the fire department?

The firefighters’ union has endorsed the mayor’s slate. That is its call to make, but let’s be crystal clear; Langley Strong has supported, and will continue to support, public safety. Here is what our four councillors moved, seconded and voted for since 2018, from the Township’s own minutes, and what the whole team has committed to in writing.

The Question

Does Langley Strong support the Township of Langley Fire Department? Voters have heard that IAFF Local 4550 endorsed Progress for Langley, and some have taken that to mean our councillors voted against firefighters. What does the record say, and what is Langley Strong promising?

The Answer

Every fire hall, every firefighter hire and every fire truck that came to council since 2018 passed. Not one was stopped by a Langley Strong councillor. Barb Martens seconded the motion that started the 44-firefighter plan and the $25 million loan for the new Brookswood fire hall. Margaret Kunst seconded the motion that put full-time staffing at Brookswood and a second first-response truck in Willoughby on the table, and the one that pre-approved an extra fire prevention officer. Blair Whitmarsh moved that staffing motion and the Township’s first wildfire plan. Kim Richter seconded the study that put the new Brookswood hall on the map. In February 2026, Martens and Kunst added a Fire Life Safety Educator to the budget, and it passed. Where our councillors voted no, they voted against borrowing bylaws and budget bylaws, and said so at the time. The firefighters in those bylaws were never the objection, and they were hired. Every claim below links to the minutes.

Key Points

Nov 14, 2022: Barb Martens seconded the motion for 40 more career firefighters over four budgets. Carried, no one opposed. Raised to 44 three weeks later; Martens and Kunst voted yes.
May 1, 2023: Martens seconded the $25 million loan bylaw for the new Brookswood Fire Hall 5. Kunst voted yes. The hall opened in 2026 with four full-time firefighters.
Brookswood planning: on April 25, 2022, Kim Richter seconded the Fire Hall 5 feasibility study, the first council step toward the new hall. On December 13, 2021, she seconded the motion to study new fire halls with housing above them, which named Hall 5 for replacement.
June 13, 2022: Whitmarsh moved and Kunst seconded “Support for First Responders,” asking for full-time staffing at Brookswood Hall 5 and a staffed first-response truck at Willoughby Hall 4. Both happened: Squad 4 went into service in February 2024; Hall 5 opened in 2026.
The hires: 11 firefighters in the 2023 budget, 19 in 2024, 11 in 2025. Kunst and Martens voted for each of those budgets.
Feb 3, 2025: $5.75 million for Fire Halls 3 (Aldergrove) and 6 (Murrayville). Kunst and Martens voted yes.
Feb 23, 2026: Martens moved and Kunst seconded a full-time Fire Life Safety Educator. It carried with one vote against, from the mayor’s slate. That firefighter started September 1.
Prevention: Kunst seconded the 2021 Fire Safety Plan and the pre-approval of an extra Fire Prevention Officer. Whitmarsh moved the 2021 wildfire interface plan, unanimous.
The no votes: Kim Richter voted against the Hall 5 loan and the annual financial plans; all four voted against the 2026 financial plan. Those were votes against borrowing and budget bylaws, not against any firefighter. Every one of those items passed anyway.
The commitment: staff fire and police to keep pace with growth; replace the Walnut Grove fire hall; put prevention, inspection and public education on the same footing as suppression; enhanced supports and a trauma dog for first responders; a public safety committee that meets every quarter.

1. The 44-firefighter plan: who seconded it, who voted for it

On November 14, 2022, three weeks after the election, council passed a motion directing staff to bring options for 40 additional career suppression firefighters over the next four budgets. Councillor Barb Martens seconded it. Councillor Margaret Kunst voted for it. The minutes record no one opposed. On December 5, council reconsidered and raised the number to 44; Martens seconded the reconsideration, and Martens and Kunst voted for the 44. The same day, council’s 2023 budget directives named a replacement fire hall for Brookswood-Fernridge and a replacement hall for Walnut Grove. Martens seconded those too.

The hires followed in three budgets: the first 11 firefighters in the 2023–2027 financial plan (April 3, 2023), 19 more in the 2024–2028 plan (January 15, 2024), who went on duty February 24, 2024, and 11 in the 2025–2029 plan (February 3, 2025). Kunst and Martens voted for all three plans. The 2024 plan also funded two fire prevention inspectors.

2. The new Brookswood fire hall: a Langley Strong seconder at every step

The road to Fire Hall 5 at 19950 27 Avenue runs through our councillors. On April 25, 2022, Kim Richter seconded the motion for a Fire Hall 5 feasibility study, the first council step toward the new hall. On May 1, 2023, Barb Martens seconded Fire Hall Loan Authorization Bylaw 5880, $25 million to replace the Brookswood hall; Kunst voted yes. On June 26, 2023, Martens seconded the motion confirming the $25 million envelope and the Horne Pit site; Kunst voted yes. The hall became fully operational on July 16, 2026, with full-time firefighters, and the old hall is to become a training facility.

Richter voted against the loan bylaw. Her objection, on the record, was to $25 million of new debt, not to the hall; she had seconded the study that started it. The loan passed and the hall was built.

3. Staffing before the Woodward slate: the 2022 motion

On June 13, 2022, before the last election, Blair Whitmarsh moved and Margaret Kunst seconded “Support for First Responders,” directing staff to report on the cost and timing of a staffed first-response apparatus at Willoughby Hall 4 and full-time staffing at Brookswood-Fernridge Hall 5. It carried. Both asks were delivered by the next council: Squad 4 went into service at Hall 4 in February 2024, and Hall 5 opened in 2026 with full-time staff.

4. Prevention, not just suppression

On October 4, 2021, Kunst seconded the Fire Safety Plan Framework: construction-site fire safety plans to the NFPA 241 standard, construction-phase inspections of every multi-residential building, more enforcement, a Hot Work education program, and an additional Fire Prevention Officer. She also seconded the amendment that pre-approved that officer rather than waiting for the next budget. On November 22, 2021, Whitmarsh moved the motion directing staff to develop a Wildland Urban Interface fire plan and apply for UBCM FireSmart funding; it passed with no one opposed. On December 13, 2021, Richter seconded the motion to study new fire halls with housing above them, which named Halls 5 and 8 as needing replacement. On March 7, 2022, Whitmarsh seconded the $270,000 for the Hall 7 and Hall 8 feasibility studies.

On February 23, 2026, Martens moved and Kunst seconded an amendment adding a full-time Fire Life Safety Educator to the 2026 budget, a firefighter whose job is stopping fires before they start, in schools, seniors’ homes and living rooms. It carried with a single vote against, from the mayor’s slate. That firefighter started work on September 1, 2026.

5. The trucks and the halls, every year

Apparatus pre-approvals passed with our councillors voting yes every time: the 2020 heavy rescue truck and two engine/tankers on June 10, 2019, with Kunst, Richter and Whitmarsh in favour. The 2024 order of 11 Pierce and MaxiMetal apparatus was funded through the financial plans Kunst and Martens voted for. On February 3, 2025, Kunst and Martens voted for $5.75 million in facilities renewal for Fire Hall 3 in Aldergrove and Fire Hall 6 in Murrayville; the Hall 3 renovation began in January 2026. On December 16, 2024, Richter seconded a Seniors Advisory Committee motion to work with IAFF Local 4550 on heat-event public education.

6. The votes against, and what they were against

A fact check that left this out wouldn’t be one. Kim Richter voted against the 2018, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 financial plans, against the 44-firefighter amendment on December 5, 2022, against the Hall 5 loan bylaw, and against the June 2022 staffing-report motion. Every one of those items passed. Her stated reason, meeting after meeting, was the borrowing and the tax bill those bylaws carried, and she seconded the Hall 5 study, the fire-halls-with-housing motion and the 2024 heat-safety motion with the union.

All four Langley Strong councillors voted against the 2026–2030 financial plan at every reading. That plan carried $79 million of internal borrowing for Smith Athletic Park and the arenas and a 22.8 per cent tax projection for 2027, on a Township debt that has gone from $177 million to nearly $800 million borrowed, approved or in progress. The firefighters passed with wide support; the objection was to the debt in the same bylaw. Our councillors said so at the table.

Blair Whitmarsh was not on council from November 2022 to October 2025; he returned in the by-election. He cast no vote on the 44-firefighter plan or the Hall 5 loan. He moved the 2022 motion the next council acted on.

7. What Langley Strong is committed to

The Respect for Our Safety pillar of the Langley Strong platform, released in September, commits the team to:

Back firefighters and police with the staffing and resources to keep pace with growth.
Replace the aging Walnut Grove Fire Hall, and begin planning now.
Move the fire department’s focus from suppression alone to public education, training, prevention and inspection. Preventing fires costs less than fighting them.
Create a standby Peer Support Unit in the Langley RCMP and Township Fire Department, so members, call-takers and staff get check-ins after traumatic calls, and introduce a dedicated Operational Stress Intervention Dog for first responders, funded with a local foundation or charity.
Restore a public safety committee of councillors and residents, meeting quarterly to receive statistics and updates from Langley RCMP, Township Fire and Bylaws.
Explore, with fire officials, the business plan and partners for a firefighter training facility in Brookswood, talked about for years with little movement.
Complete the infrastructure projects already under way, and fund must-haves before nice-to-haves.

Those are written commitments, signed by every candidate.

The Bottom Line

Since 2018, our councillors seconded the firefighter plan, seconded the fire hall loan, moved the staffing motion, moved the wildfire plan, seconded the prevention plan and added the fire educator. Every hall, every hire and every truck passed, and not one was stopped by Langley Strong. The no votes were against debt and budget bylaws, and the firefighters inside them were hired anyway. The union has made its choice; it is entitled to. Residents are entitled to the record. Langley Strong backs the Township of Langley Fire Department, and it will keep doing so with the staffing, the halls and the prevention work in our platform.