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  "description": "Yorkson's new spray park opens May 9, Langley marks the National Day of Mourning for 138 BC workers killed in 2025, and MP Tako Van Popta leads a Conservative task force targeting Indigenous land rights. Plus 22 deaths in BC jails, Earth Day at Douglas Park, and the 2026 tax bill.",
  "path": "/langley-roundup-news-for-april-29th-2026/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-29T23:39:33.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.langleyunion.ca",
  "tags": [
    "Read More",
    "Zoi Palla",
    "Unsplash",
    "Matthew Ansley",
    "Take the Survey"
  ],
  "textContent": "💚\n\n****Support Local News—Spread the Word****\nThe best way to help __The Langley Union__ grow is simple: share this newsletter. Forward it to a friend, mention it to your family, or post it on social media and encourage others to subscribe.\n\nCloudy skies are giving way to milder weather in Langley, with today's high climbing to about 19°C and the rest of the week looking warm and mostly dry.\n\nLangley Conservative MP Tako Van Popta has been tapped to lead a Conservative task force targeting Indigenous land rights, a framing that deserves close scrutiny from residents.\n\nBoth Langleys marked the National Day of Mourning for the 138 workers killed on B.C. job sites in 2025, while a new coroners' report shows 22 people died inside provincial jails last year.\n\nOn a brighter note, Yorkson Community Park's north campus opens May 9 with a spray park and food trucks, Earth Day drew dozens of community groups to Douglas Park, and Langley City Council has set 2026 property tax rates, with attached housing owners absorbing a steeper percentage increase than detached homeowners.\n\n## Sign up for The Langley Union\n\nGet daily news updates and feature community stories from the only independent source that is 100% owned and operated in Langley, BC.\n\nSubscribe\n\nEmail sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup.\n\nNo spam. No paywalls. Unsubscribe anytime.\n\n### Yorkson Community Park North Campus Opens May 9 with Spray Park, Music, and Food Trucks\n\nThe Township of Langley is inviting residents to celebrate the opening of the north campus of Yorkson Community Park on Saturday, May 9 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.\n\nThe event will feature live music, food trucks, glitter tattoo artists, and the official activation of the new spray park.\n\nIt's a free, family friendly afternoon in one of Langley's growing neighbourhoods. More surprises are promised on site.\n\nPublic parks and community gathering spaces like this one are exactly the kind of infrastructure that makes neighbourhoods livable, especially for families who don't have big backyards of their own.\n\nRead More\n\n### Langley Conservative MP Tako Van Popta to Lead Task Force Targeting Indigenous Land Rights\n\nA Langley MP has been tapped to lead a new Conservative task force on private property rights, prompted by Conservative alarm over Indigenous land claims following a recent Cowichan ruling.\n\nThe framing here is worth scrutinizing. The Cowichan Tribes have been pursuing recognition of their rights to their own territory through the courts, and the Conservative response is to treat that legal process as a threat to settler property owners.\n\nIndigenous land claims are not an attack on private property. They are assertions of rights that predate Confederation and have been repeatedly affirmed by Canadian courts.\n\nPositioning Indigenous sovereignty as something to be countered by a political task force is a familiar tactic, one that prioritizes the interests of landowners and developers over the rights of nations whose land was never lawfully surrendered.\n\nLangley residents should pay close attention to what this task force actually proposes and whose interests it serves.\n\nRead More\n\n### Langley Township and City Mark National Day of Mourning for Workers Killed on the Job\n\nBoth Langley Township and Langley City held ceremonies on April 28 to mark the National Day of Mourning, honouring workers killed, injured, or made ill on the job.\n\nIn British Columbia, 138 workers died from workplace injuries and occupational disease in 2025. Every one of those deaths leaves a family and a community with a hole that doesn't close.\n\nThe Day of Mourning is a reminder that workplace safety is not a bureaucratic abstraction. It is a matter of whether people come home at the end of their shift.\n\nAdvocates continue to push for stronger enforcement of safety standards and greater accountability for employers whose negligence puts workers at risk.\n\nRead More\n\n### 138 Workers Died on the Job in B.C. Last Year. Advocates Say Every Death Was Preventable.\n\nPhoto by Zoi Palla / Unsplash\n\nBritish Columbia lost 138 workers to workplace injuries and occupational disease in 2025, and labour advocates are clear: those deaths did not have to happen.\n\nThe National Day of Mourning, observed April 28, is meant to honour the dead and injured, but it is also a day to demand accountability from the systems that failed them.\n\nPreventable workplace deaths are not accidents. They are the predictable result of under-regulation, cost cutting, and enforcement gaps that let employers off the hook.\n\nThe workers who died were disproportionately in industries like construction, manufacturing, and resource extraction, sectors where precarious employment and pressure to cut corners remain widespread.\n\nRead More\n\n### 22 People Died in B.C. Correctional Facilities in 2025\n\nPhoto by Matthew Ansley / Unsplash\n\nA new B.C. Coroners Service report reveals that 22 people died while incarcerated in provincial correctional facilities in 2025, with most deaths occurring among people aged 70 or older.\n\nDeaths in custody raise urgent questions about the standard of care inside B.C.'s jails. Aging people behind bars are especially vulnerable, often dealing with chronic illness in facilities that were never designed to provide adequate healthcare.\n\nIncarceration does not erase a person's right to medical care and basic dignity. Each of these 22 deaths deserves scrutiny, not just a line in an annual report.\n\nAdvocates have long argued that many elderly and medically fragile people in provincial custody should not be incarcerated at all, and that community based alternatives would better serve both public safety and human rights.\n\nRead More\n\n### Earth Day Draws Dozens of Community Groups to Douglas Park in Langley City\n\nLangley City's Earth Day celebration brought more than two dozen community groups to Douglas Park on a sunny afternoon.\n\nThe event offered residents a chance to connect with local environmental organizations and learn about sustainability initiatives happening right in their own community.\n\nCommunity events like this are a good reminder that climate action isn't just about big policy. It's also about neighbours showing up and building the relationships that make collective action possible.\n\nIf you missed it, many of the participating groups are active year round and welcome new volunteers.\n\nRead More\n\n### Langley City Property Taxes Rising Under $100 for Most Homeowners\n\nCouncil approved replacing the end-of-life City Operation Centre in the 2026 capital budget. | Image credit South Fraser Blog\n\nLangley City Council has given three readings to its 2026 tax rate bylaw, setting the stage for property tax collection by early July.\n\nDetached home owners will see an average increase of $99.55 per year, or 3.12%. Owners of townhouses and apartments face a 6.15% jump, averaging $83.35 more annually.\n\nThe 2026 budget includes funding for two additional firefighters, two more RCMP officers, an extended pool season at Al Anderson Pool, and increased contributions to capital projects, including replacement of the aging City Operations Centre.\n\nThe overall property tax increase across all property types is 5.82%. Worth noting: attached housing owners, many of whom are younger buyers and first time homeowners, are absorbing a proportionally larger increase than detached home owners.\n\nMunicipal taxes remain one of the better deals in household budgets when measured against the services they fund, but the distribution of those increases matters, especially as affordability pressure mounts on renters and condo owners alike.\n\nRead More\n\n* * *\n\n###  What did you think?\n\nHelp us improve! Take a quick 60-second survey to share your thoughts on this article.\n\n Take the Survey ",
  "title": "Langley Roundup: News for April 29th, 2026",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-29T23:39:34.418Z"
}