British ColumbiaAfter three years of simmering tension, the conflict between the two Langleys has escalated into a public feud — one that could result in the number of Langleys cut in half. Township Mayor Eric Woodward could run candidates in adjacent City of Langley next electionJustin McElroy · CBC News · Posted: Sep 11, 2025 11:40 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoLangley Township Mayor Eric Woodward, left, argues Langley City Mayor Nathan Pachal oversees a poorly governed city, and is considering running candidates in his municipality next year. (Township of Langley, CBC News)After three years of simmering tension, the conflict between two neighbouring B.C. municipalities — the Township of Langley and City of Langley — has escalated into a public feud that could result in the number of Langleys being cut in half. “I’d like to start having the greater Langley area talk about, are we being well served with two municipalities? And I don’t believe we are,” said Township of Langley Mayor Eric Woodward. “Politicians in the City of Langley need the City of Langley to exist so they can be politicians. They wouldn’t last 10 minutes in the township.”Woodward made his comments in an interview about his township-based political party, Progress For Langley, which recently registered with Elections B.C. in the neighbouring City of Langley for next year’s civic election — opening it up to run candidates there. According to the 2021 census, the Township of Langley is home to 132,603 people while the City of Langley has a population of 28,963. The township is approximately 30,722 hectares in size, while the city is 1,018 hectares. (CBC News)The township mayor believes the city is poorly governed; as evidence, he points to the higher crime rates in the small urban district that he argues is subsidized by his larger, more suburban and rural municipality, and claims the city isn’t ready for the SkyTrain extension that’s coming in 2029. “Langley city will be the smallest municipality in the region by far that has SkyTrain, and they do not have the resources to properly address some of the downsides to SkyTrain,” Woodward said, arguing the extension would bring more social issues and government costs to the wider township area, which surrounds the city on three sides .”And the township is going to pay the bill,” he said.The City of Langley splintered off from the Township of Langley in 1955, due in part to rural voters in the township not wanting to pay for streetlights in the central city area. Woodward wants to kickstart a conversation with city residents to see if there’s an appetite for greater cohesion between the two municipalities, or a full merger.WATCH | Langley governance tensions rise: War of words between Langley’s 2 mayorsA new political party has been registered in the City of Langley, but the person behind it is Eric Woodward, the mayor of the neighbouring Township of Langley. Justin McElroy reports on why Woodward has taken such a keen interest in the city — and what his rival mayor is saying in return.It’s a bold strategy, though it’s just the latest chapter in a long line of amalgamation debates between the city and township. But it also makes public the depths of the conflict between the Langleys. A friendly conversation, or takeover for casino cash?City of Langley Mayor Nathan Pachal isn’t interested in Woodward’s overtures.”I’m going to stand up for Langley city as well. I’m not going to kowtow just because there’s someone who’s larger than us that wants something,” Pachal said.Pachal doesn’t see Woodward’s move as a friendly invitation to debate over shared municipal services and greater efficiencies.He says that the city’s crime stats, while higher than the township’s, have gone down over the last two years. And he sees it as a move to try and weaken the city for a possible takeover by the township, linking it to the township pulling out of their joint policing agreement. And he claims that Woodward’s moves are driven by a desire for more cash — specifically, from the Cascades Casino, which gives the city around $7 million to $8 million per year.”I would be crystal clear with that,” Pachal said. “Mayor Woodward [has] told me that he wants the casino revenue … and I know the township has one of the highest debt levels in the province, so it’s not surprising that he’s looking at getting that for his community.”Woodward denies caring about the casino revenue, saying it wouldn’t make much of a difference to the township’s revenues. He argues the township’s increased debt load is manageable and necessary to provide infrastructure for its booming population.And while he denies his actions could amount to an attempted takeover, he clearly would like the city and township to get on the same page on several issues.”I think it was more about if there is an interest in having a coordinated caucus spreading across two cities,” Woodward said.”I think what we’re seeing is we [in the township] have a complete inability from the current mayor and council [in the city] … to align on how we proceed to make Langley city’s public safety situation better.”A comparison of the Langley township and city, by population, size and crime severity index, among other factors. (CBC News)Long history of Langley discussionsWoodward said he wants to have consultations with the city community before committing to running candidates next year, but one test might happen next month — in his own backyard.Blair Whitmarsh, who Woodward defeated for mayor in 2022, is running for Township of Langley council in a byelection, and campaigning in part on the city’s increased debt load, which could go up by close to $500 million in the years to come. Whitmarsh’s victory or defeat could be a litmus test for how much township residents endorse Woodward’s style of governance.In the meantime, Pachal said he respects the right of anyone to start a party in the city. But he also finds the current chapter between the two municipalities interesting, given the history of how they came to be. In the 1950s when the one municipality became two, the area that is now the City of Langley was the only part of Langley that had been urbanized, and the rest of the township was leery of paying for city services, including the streetlights.”They thought they knew best for our community, and they had all the answers,” he said. “But quite frankly, I think we’re doing a pretty good job here in the city.” ABOUT THE AUTHORJustin is the Municipal Affairs Reporter for CBC Vancouver, covering local political stories throughout British Columbia.
War of the Langleys: governance tensions between township and city mayors spills into the open
