On Monday evening a crowd of 100-150 people came out to ARPA Canada’s town-hall event in Langley, BC to learn more about political pressure on independent schools in the province. Excellent talks were delivered by Ted Hewlett (President, BC Parents and Teachers for Life), Ron Gray (former leader of the CHP and current vice-president of Parents for Democracy in Education), Harry Moes (Director, Federation of Independent School Associations), Neil Dykstra (Chair, Langley ARPA), and Mark Penninga (ARPA Canada). Those in attendance were impressed with the quality of the talks and the balanced perspectives that were brought forward.

After the event, the Langley ARPA held an AGM and officially elected a board for the local group. This event also saw the Langley ARPA membership quadruple, something that brings great hope to the future of ARPA in the Langley and Aldergrove area. Neil Dykstra, who has already demonstrated excellent leadership with getting the group off the ground, was chosen as the Chair of the core group.