Langley school board candidate says criminal conviction moved him to build up community he had 'let down'

Blake Venechuk at his Langley farm on June 30. Venechuk is a fourth-generation Ukrainian Canadian farmer who helps newcomers to Canada settle into life in the Lower Mainland. Photo by Jason Payne /PNG

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Langley school board candidate Blake Venechuk likes to focus on the positive things he has done in his community — how he raised money for charities, helped Ukrainian refugees and developed an agricultural program for students.

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His drive to give back stems, in part, from a darker time 20 years ago when he got caught up in a firearms trafficking scheme.

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Venechuk said he was “a naive 23-year-old farm boy from Alberta who had just moved to the big city” when some people he met at the gym convinced him he could make fast cash “by driving a package from one location to another.”

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“I was buried in student loan debt from obtaining my commercial helicopter pilot’s licence at Chinook Helicopters in Abbotsford and made a terribly foolish, short-sighted decision,” Venechuk said in an emailed statement. “I was caught and honestly, I am grateful that I was. It stopped me in my tracks and forced me to look at the man I wanted to become.”

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As part of an investigation by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, Venechuk was one of several men under surveillance on April 25, 2006. Police followed him to Burnaby’s 8 Rinks (now Scotia Barn.) They watched him meet a co-accused who handed him a box. Less than an hour later in Langley he was arrested.

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“In the box, police found three machine pistols, three stocks and magazines for the guns. None of the guns had a serial number or other identification,” a court ruling in the case said.

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Venechuk pleaded guilty to a single count of possession for the purpose of weapons trafficking and was sentenced to three years. He told Postmedia News he served six months in a minimum-security jail on Vancouver Island.

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“When I was released, I resolved to spend the rest of my life building up the community I had let down,” Venechuk said. “Over the last two decades, that is exactly what I have done.”

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He built a career in the fitness industry and opened two gyms in Langley, he said.

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“During the pandemic, I furthered my education online through the UBC Sauder School of Business.”

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His family purchased their Langley farm where he “created a hydroponic farming program and piloted it within the Langley school district, where it still runs today,” Venechuk said.

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“Over the last 15 years, I launched a youth mentorship program to give kids the life skills they need to thrive,” he added.

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As someone of Ukrainian heritage, Venechuk jumped into action when the Ukraine-Russia war broke out, hosting hundreds of displaced families on his farm.

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“Over decades, together with my family, friends and partners, we have donated close to a million dollars in food, time and resources to the Langley and surrounding communities,” he said.

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He said he’s running as a school board trustee “because I know firsthand what happens to young people when proper support systems are missing.”

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“Furthermore, through my years of running programs inside Langley schools, I have witnessed an alarming rise in teacher and support staff burnout, as well as rising school violence,” he said.

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“My past taught me the value of accountability, resilience and true rehabilitation. My present is defined by 20 years of active, hands-on service to Langley’s kids and families.”

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