Blair Whitmarsh for Township Council

Because the work I came back to do isn’t finished. I returned to Council in the by-election last fall on a simple promise: bring financial oversight back to the table. In March, I brought forward a motion to direct staff to prepare a long-term fiscal responsibility plan with real debt reduction targets and timelines, and Council passed it. But now it has to be followed through, and that takes people dedicated to get the job done.

Growth here outpaced the roads, parks, and services families depend on. We can’t just grow. We have to grow responsibly, so everyone can thrive. I’d like to keep doing that work.

I arrived as a student and never really left. Lorraine and I came back from graduate work in Edmonton in 1996 to raise our three daughters here, and we’ve been in Brookswood ever since. All three girls played community soccer, which is how I ended up coaching for years, and all three went to Trinity Western. Today we’re grandparents to nine.

So when a staff report lands about a neighbourhood, I’m not reading about a place on a map. I’m reading about the fields I coached on and the places my family visits every day.

I’m proud to have achieved the following work and key contributions as Councillor in 2014-2022 and 2025-2026.

• Authored the Township's Long-Term Fiscal Responsibility Plan, adopted by Council in March 2026, directing the development of debt reduction targets and timelines, a reserve replenishment schedule, revenue diversification, and a contingency plan for a development slowdown
• Maintained low property tax increases and transparent budgeting tied to inflation from 2014 to 2022
• Delivered major road improvements, including widening of the 208th Street Overpass, widening and sound walls at the Highway 1 overpass at 216th Street, and the opening of University Drive connecting Glover Road to the freeway interchange
• Broadened the Glover Road rail crossing safety review to include other higher-risk pedestrian crossings across the Township; supported a full review of the Township's crosswalk policy
• Protected farmland in 2026 by blocking the 224th Street soil deposit application, refusing a development permit in a streamside protection area, and upholding minimum rural parcel sizes on Smith Crescent
• Led the development and adoption of the Community Forest Management Strategy to protect tree canopy as the Township grows
• Delivered the Aldergrove Community Centre and Outdoor Water Park
• Reformed the Subdivision Bylaw in 2019, updating road and parking standards and increasing on-street parking in new developments by 30–50%
• Supported staffing and capacity increases at the Brookswood-Fernridge and Willoughby fire halls, the Township's Water Safety Program, and a staff report on balcony BBQ and fire container risks
• Secured a staff report on eligible school sites in Willoughby to support Langley School District planning
• Supported the George Preston Outdoor Sports Box, expanded the South Langley trail system, and advanced the Brookswood Neighbourhood Community Plans

Six things I ran on in the by-election last fall, and they haven’t changed:

• Financial oversight that’s real. Financial management is about more than a balanced budget. It means debt reduction targets with timelines attached, a schedule to rebuild our reserves, strategic investments that improve services without adding to your tax bill, and a budget process residents can see into before the decisions are made.
• Smart, sustainable development. Infrastructure planning that is proactive, not reactive. Development that respects the character of our neighbourhoods while planning for the growth ahead, protecting our community identity and our green spaces as we build.
• Housing that works for people who live here. Practical options for young families, seniors, and renters, and a permitting process that stops adding cost to every home we build.
• Safe communities. Expanded fire, police, and emergency services, well-lit streets, and traffic safety work that reduces collisions and protects pedestrians and cyclists.
• Liveable, connected neighbourhoods. Complete communities where residents can meet most daily needs on foot, with better walkability, expanded transit, dedicated bike and pedestrian routes, and parks, sports, and arts facilities that keep pace with a growing population.
• Community priorities ahead of political ones. Decisions driven by what residents need, made in the open and explained plainly.

The direction and the speed. Our debt load has climbed at an alarming rate, to more than $10,000 per household, and none of that is free. It gets paid back by families through taxes and utility bills, and by our children and grandchildren long after this council is gone.

What concerns me is not any single project. It’s that we’ve been taking on large commitments without a plan for paying them down. So in March I brought forward a motion to direct staff to prepare a long-term fiscal responsibility plan: debt reduction targets and timelines, a schedule to rebuild our reserves, a plan to diversify revenue, and a contingency for if development slows. Council passed it, but we need a group at the table who are willing to implement and execute it.

That’s the part I care about. Raising a concern is easy. Turning it into a plan the Township is actually held to is the work, and I intend to see it through.

Nine years at the table taught me how much easier it is to get something done when councillors trust each other and share a set of commitments. Langley Strong is a group of people who agree on the basics: responsible spending, orderly growth, open decision-making, and community priorities ahead of political ones. We each keep our own judgment on every vote, but we’re willing to hear one another, collaborate and work together.

Family first. Lorraine and I have three daughters and nine grandchildren, and a lot of our weekends look exactly like that. I teach human kinetics at Trinity Western, where I’ve been on faculty since 1996, and I wrote a book called Mind & Muscle about the mental side of strength training. I still present and judge at conferences and competitions. I’ve coached community soccer, served on local boards, and I’m active at Christian Life Assembly.

You learn that being the loudest person in the room proves nothing. As a professor and a dean, the job was to read the material properly, hear the people it affects, and then make a call I could defend on the merits. That is the same job at the council table. I read the whole agenda. I ask staff my questions before the meeting rather than performing them during it. And when I get something wrong, I’d rather say so than defend it.

It means being true to your principles and what’s best for the community, every time. Sometimes, that’s saying no to things that would be very easy to say yes to, but I’d rather cast a hard vote and explain my reasoning to a neighbour than take a comfortable one I can’t defend. My family lives here. My grandchildren will live with what this council decides.

Call anyway. You won’t always get the answer you were hoping for, but you are owed a real one and the reasoning behind it. A good share of this job is simply making sure the question gets asked out loud, in public, before the vote.