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Only one of 16 councillors bothers to hear provincial leaders

Lack of council members in attendance at leadership luncheons is surprising and disappointing.

It's interesting that only one of the 16 people who sit on the two Langley councils could spare the time to listen to two provincial party leaders who spoke in Langley on Friday and Monday.

City Councillor Teri James, who unlike most of her counterparts has a daytime job, made the effort to hear what Conservative leader John Cummins and NDP leader Adrian Dix, who according to opinion polls is likely to succeed Christy Clark, had to say to Langley audiences.

Both Cummins and Dix spoke on a number of local issues, including TransLink funding, the Port Mann Bridge and the squeeze on municipal budgets.

Langley Township councillors are usually present, with one or two exceptions, at every BC Liberal Party fundraiser in Langley. Several members of City council usually attend as well. City Mayor Peter Fassbender is even running for the Liberals in Surrey-Fleetwood.

It will be interesting to see if any members of the two councils, other than James, attend the third in the chamber's series of leadership luncheons next Monday. That one will feature Premier Clark, as leader of the BC Liberals.

By the way, no member of Langley Board of Education was at either of the two luncheons.

Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce is hosting these luncheons to let local people hear for themselves from the three leaders. It is a commendable program and offers unparalleled access to each of the leaders. Too bad that's such a low priority for the three local governments.