Stew Young’s
Record as Mayor
Public services · 2014–2026

Private garbage collection during an Alpine co-owner’s mayoralty.

Stew Young co-owned Alpine’s waste business until its 2019 sale. Langford retained private household garbage subscriptions throughout his mayoralty. In 2014, he opposed a separate public garden-waste proposal, arguing that residents should not have to fund a service through taxes if they did not use it. These facts raise questions about the assessment of public alternatives; they do not establish that he retained private collection for personal gain.

Updated September 30, 2026

The mayor also had a waste business

Young founded Alpine Group in 1984. Reporting on its 2019 disposal-business sale2 identifies him as founder and co-owner. Alpine operated residential, commercial, and industrial waste and recycling services on Vancouver Island.

That created a clear overlap between his public responsibilities and his business interests. A mayor helps set priorities for local services. A waste-company owner earns revenue from providing those services privately. Langford residents were entitled to ask whether a public option received a fair assessment.

A public alternative was raised in 2014

Capital Daily’s account of the 2014 election1 describes challengers raising conflict-of-interest concerns because Alpine was the only garden-waste facility in town. They proposed a public works yard. Young responded that residents should not have to fund a service through taxes if they did not use it, and that anyone could open another waste facility.

The 2014 proposal was for a garden-waste drop-off facility, separate from curbside collection. Young opposed that public option. Throughout his mayoralty, Langford also left households arranging their own private pickup.

Leaving residents to buy a basic service individually was a governing choice with consequences for household costs.

Low municipal taxes did not remove the bill

A service omitted from the municipal budget still has to be paid for. Residents hiring a private hauler faced a separate household expense. Judging affordability by the property-tax bill alone leaves that expense out.

In December 2025, City staff reported4 that residents likely paid more annually, on average, for private collection than residents in other B.C. municipalities with municipal or municipally contracted biweekly collection. The City also identified household waste dumped into public or commercial bins as a consequence that can follow when subscriptions are optional.

Those findings give substance to the criticism of the system Young left behind. A coordinated service deserved consideration as Langford grew. Maintaining private subscriptions meant leaving residents without the City negotiating a collective household service on their behalf.

The ownership timeline matters

GFL announced its acquisition on August 6, 20193 of the Vancouver Island solid-waste operations of Evergreen Industries Ltd., part of Alpine Group. Its announcement describes collection, hauling, and recycling facilities. Young’s ownership of that disposal business ended with the 2019 sale.

A different approach is now being pursued

Council directed staff in December 2025 to assess a coordinated residential service. In June 2026, the City announced5 plans to seek competitive private-sector proposals, with the contractor billing households directly. Municipal coordination can use collective purchasing power while collection remains privately delivered.

Langford and Colwood then issued a joint residential curbside collection tender6, posted July 31, 2026. The tender anticipates service beginning in late 2027 and a seven-year operating term, with two possible one-year extensions. Procurement does not mean the service has already started.

The failure to prioritize a coordinated service

Young left residents buying a basic service individually while, for much of his mayoralty, co-owning a business in that market. Keeping that system in place was his administration’s policy choice. The later City assessment found that residents likely paid more on average than households served by municipal or municipally contracted biweekly collection.

The practical question is straightforward: why did Langford leave residents buying this service individually for so long, and what assessment of household costs justified that choice?

Sources

  1. Aaron Guillen, Capital Daily: Langford is nearly 30 years old and has only elected one mayorApril 6, 2021. Describes the 2014 public garden-waste proposal, challengers’ concerns, and Young’s response.
  2. Mary P. Brooke, West Shore Voice News / Island Social Trends: Alpine disposal-business saleAugust 7, 2019, updated August 8. Identifies Young as Alpine founder and co-owner; reports the disposal transaction.
  3. GFL Environmental, acquisition announcementAugust 6, 2019. Primary company record of the acquisition and the Vancouver Island business’s services.
  4. City of Langford, waste-collection announcementDecember 17, 2025. Reports the existing subscription model, staff’s cost comparison, dumping concerns, and council’s direction to assess a coordinated service.
  5. City of Langford, next stage of waste-collection procurementJune 16, 2026. Describes privately delivered collection and direct household billing under a municipally negotiated arrangement.
  6. City of Langford, joint Langford–Colwood tender NRFP-2026-0216Posted July 31, 2026. Tender document, pages 9 and 18–19: anticipated late-2027 start and seven-year operating term with optional extensions.