A former Port Coquitlam alderman and recipient of the city's Freedom of the Municipality award has died.
George Laking served on city council from 1968 to 1990. He was also Port Coquitlam’s 12th mayor from 1980 to 1982.
“George was a beloved member of our community and his loss will be deeply felt by all who knew him,” said Brad West, Port Coquitlam’s current mayor, in a statement posted on the city’s social media channels. “He was a dedicated public servant and tireless advocate for our city.”
Flags at all civic facilities are flying at half-staff to mark Laking’s passing.
As mayor, Laking was vocal about a decision by the provincial government in 1980 to allow voters in the next municipal election to decide whether their communities should allow stores to open on Sundays and statutory holidays. He joined several other mayors criticizing the province’s Holiday Shopping Act introduced by Attorney-General Allan Williams as “passing the buck.” They feared a mishmash of rules that would create an uneven playing field.
“It’s rather sad the government has passed it off the way it did,” Laking told the Vancouver Sun, adding uniform rules should apply across the province.
Laking was also Port Coquitlam’s representative at the funeral of local hero Terry Fox in July 1981 after he succumbed to the cancer that had recurred midway through his Marathon of Hope run across Canada.
According to the United Press International news service, Laking sat across from the Fox family, in PoCo's Trinity United Church, along with B.C. Lieutenant-Governor Henry Bell-Irving, Premier Bill Bennett and Senator Ray Perrault. The hour-long service was broadcast on national television.
Even after Laking left local government, he remained a passionate champion for Port Coquitlam. In a 2007 article in the Tri-City News, he eulogized the old Wild Duck Inn as the notorious landmark on the banks of the Pitt River awaited demolition to make way for construction of a new Pitt River Bridge.
“I don’t think the Duck was ever that wild,” he said. “I can remember during the Second World War when an awful lot of beer was sold out of the back window. You would walk up the fire escape, one flight. But to me, that was just another hotel in the community.”
In 2013, at the age of 85, Laking worked tirelessly to paint over graffiti that was being persistently tagged on the Elks Lodge in Port Coquitlam’s downtown.
“I’ve seen times when I painted out one day and the next day it was all over again,” he told CBC. “It gets a little tiresome after awhile. You know, I’m getting old.”
Eventually a man was arrested in connection with the tagging and charged with mischief under $5,000.
Laking was 96 when he died.
