Late on a Friday before the Township by-election, Langley parents opened an unexpected email from their children’s soccer club. The message, sent to hundreds of Langley United Soccer Association families, appeared to express support for candidate John Aldag. It said, in effect, that the election would determine whether the Township continued its recent “progress” on recreation facilities or returned to an earlier approach. The email was signed by LUSA’s executive director and carried the club’s letterhead, landing just as advance voting closed and ballots were set to be cast the next morning.

When results came in the next day, Aldag lost decisively. Former councillor Blair Whitmarsh won with nearly twice as many votes. The results appeared to many onlookers less like a typical by-election and more like a reaction against political messaging from a community group. Some saw it as both a rejection of one candidate and a signal of discomfort with community institutions taking sides in civic politics.

According to some observers, Aldag was perceived as aligned with the mayor’s camp, although he publicly denied any formal association with Mayor Woodward. The message, interpreted by some as a LUSA endorsement, amplified that perception. What was meant as praise for civic investment instead blurred the boundary between recreation and politics, drawing attention to how closely community organizations and local leadership can appear intertwined during election season.  

LUSA later clarified that the message reflected the executive director’s personal opinion and not an official position of the board. That statement helped, but only partially. For some residents already wary of growing partisanship at Township Hall, the incident reinforced concerns that politics was finding its way into spaces usually seen as neutral.

The Woodward administration has implemented investment in new facilities and sports amenities, and those projects remain popular on their own merits. The controversy lay not in the work itself but in how easily it could be interpreted as a political endorsement. When civic improvements become talking points in an election, even widely supported projects risk losing their broader consensus. Few residents dispute the need for better fields, safer roads, or modern recreation spaces. The harder task is ensuring those priorities bring the community together rather than divide it. The by-election result offered a simple reminder: Langley voters want progress without pressure, investment without politics, and leadership that keeps civic life separate from campaign life.

At the end of the day, kids should be able to play soccer without their parents being told how to vote.