The City of Langford has launched an online fact-check portal on hot topics it says are plagued by misinformation, causing public confusion.
The municipality says City Fact Check at LetsChatLangford.ca is designed to provide factual information for residents, businesses and those with a vested interest in city business.
The pilot project is designed to correct or clarify misinformation or disinformation using official city information and documents and links to past council meetings and staff reports, the city said.
“In today’s world, information on almost any subject is easily available from a variety of sources,” the city said in a statement. “Whether fact, fiction, opinion-based or somewhere in-between, information travels quickly and at times can be contradictory, confusing, and often overwhelming.”
It noted that other local governments in B.C. and elsewhere have launched similar initiatives, including Prince George, Kelowna and Welland, Ont.
The first edition of the fact checker tackled two topics: the city’s sidewalk program and funding for the YM/YWCA.
On sidewalks, it says while some residents believe sidewalk construction is influenced by council members based on personal preferences and where they live, the city actually selects sidewalk infill projects based on criteria scored by professional engineers, including proximity to schools, transit, parks and trails as well as road classification.
The checker says staff presented a priority list of proposed projects in an overall plan developed last year, and all sidewalk infill projects are funded from general amenity funds. It provides links to council agendas where the policies were developed.
As for the Westhills YM/YWCA, the portal says incorrect information is circulating about the impact of subsidies to the facility on taxes, as well as rumours that membership levels have returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, making an additional subsidy no longer needed, which the city says is untrue.
The new council under Mayor Scott Goodmanson has been under heavy scrutiny since Stew Young, who spent 30 years in the mayor’s chair, and other long-time councillors were swept out of office in the civic election in the fall of 2022.
The new council has faced a steady barrage of criticism at council meetings and protesters outside city hall.
A Facebook page with more than 2,200 members called Our Langford describes itself as a “group appreciative of the previous council’s 30 years of monumental achievements.”
Since being elected, the new council has made changes to the way the city operates, including launching a new strategic plan that while embracing the inevitable build-out of Langford, aims to slow down rapid development to address long-term needs for housing and recreation, transportation, infrastructure and sustainability.
Langford residents are also facing the steepest tax increase in the city’s history with a 15.6% increase for 2024.
The new council says previous councils had used the general amenity fund — money paid by developers and intended for public projects like parks and other improvements — to keep tax rates low for property owners, rather than directing them to projects like sidewalks.
