Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Times February 10 2015 by Maple Ridge Times

Tuesday, February 10, 2015 A descendant of Port Haney’s founder – Thomas Haney – reflects on 100 years of living.

Page A13 • LOCAL NEWS, SPORTS, AND ENTERTAINMENT • mrtimes.com • 604-463-2281 • 20 PAGES Traffic fatality

Giving

Speed and weather are believed to be factors in a deadly multi-vehicle accident on Thursday.

A new climbing structure at Glenwood Elementary School wouldn’t exist if not for a key donation from the Meadow Ridge Rotary Club.

One killed in Rotarians’ kindness drives beehive highway crash

by Eric Zimmer

ezimmer@mrtimes.com

A three-vehicle crash in the 25500 block of the Lougheed Highway Thursday morning claimed the life of one person and sent three others to hospital. At approximately 9 a.m., two cars and a pickup truck collided, and now Ridge Meadows RCMP say their traffic division and ICARS (Integrated Crash Analyst Reconstruction Services) were investigating. An SUV and a small car collided on the highway, and then “a third vehicle – the pickup truck – became involved in the accident in some fashion,” explained Maple Ridge deputy fire chief Howard Exner, who was called to the scene. The person in the small car was “very badly entrapped” and succumbed to the injuries sustained during the accident, Exner said. In the meantime, the person from the pickup truck fared “quite well,” and was “walking wounded,” he added. And of the two people in the SUV, the passenger needed to be extricated, while the driver was “already out on the road on our arrival, and was being tended to by some passersby,” Exner elaborated. The SUV driver suffered upper body and head injuries, while the person in the passenger seat had “numerous” lower body injuries. “The initial investigation has revealed the wet weather and roads – along with speed – are contributors to the crash,” said Ridge Meadows RCMP Cpl. Alanna Dunlop. The Lougheed Highway – which is a major thoroughfare – was closed until late afternoon in both directions as a result of the crash. As of the TIMES press deadline, police were unable to release the names of those involved in the crash.

Troy Landreville/TIMES

Police redirected traffic at Lougheed Highway and 240th Street, after the highway was closed in both directions Thursday, due to a deadly crash.

by Troy Landreville tlandreville@mrtimes.com

The Meadow Ridge Rotary Club gave students at Glenwood Elementary a huge step up, through a sizeable donation towards a new piece of equipment for the school’s playground. The local Rotarians donated $14,000 towards the purchase and installation of a $27,000, Dynamo Meteor Net Beehive DX 802. This past Thursday, Feb. 5, the school hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony, including cake and refreshments, to celebrate the addition of the 14 foot-tall climbing structure, which can accommodate play for more than 40 students at one time. On top of the $14,000 from Meadow Ridge Rotary’s sports banquet legacy fund, the rest of the funds used to purchase and build the structure came from the school’s Parent Advisory Council (PAC) and from gaming funds. The process started in September 2013, noted Glenwood PAC chairperson Stephanie Raposo, with additional funds being raised through the annual Glenwood Carnival, a social night, and Rotary Duck Race tickets.

continued on page A4…

i PAD

GET AN WITH YOUR NEXT VEHICLE PURCHASE NEXT VEHICLE PURCHASE In-stock cars only some exemptions may apply

Troy Landreville/TIMES

Glenwood Elementary School Grade 1 student Gavin Judd-Baillee made his way up the Dynamo Meteor Net Beehive DX 802 climbing structure, the newest addition to the school’s playground. Helping make the structure possible was a $14,000 donation from the Meadow Ridge Rotary Club.

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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

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mrtimes.com Weather causing worry Dangerous water levels in Golden Ears Provincial Park had staff on high alert Friday. In the midst of heavy rains, some areas of the beach were washed out and a section of the Lower Falls trail were breached, said Stu Burgess of SSG Holdings, the company that manages the provincial park. “The Gold Creek is flowing, it’s as high as I’ve ever seen it,” said Burgess, who has been overseeing the park since 1990. • More at www.mrtimes.com

Police raided a drug home in the 22500 block of Brown Avenue, arresting nine.

Nine arrested in raid Nine people were arrested and an undisclosed amount of LSD, methamphetamines, marijuana, and assorted prescription drugs were seized during a police raid Friday morning in Haney. Armed with a search warrant, the Ridge Meadows RCMP street enforcement team conducted its fifth raid in as many months of drug houses in the downtown. This house was in the 22500 block of Brown Avenue. • More at www.mrtimes.com

Notorious landlord dies Jagdev Athwal, a long-time Maple Ridge landlord and businessman, has passed away. The 74-year-old managed a number of different properties throughout Maple Ridge, including the now-demolished but somewhat controversial Northumberland Court townhouses on Fraser Street in Port Haney. • More at www.mrtimes.com Handyman Morgan Jensen will answer your home improvement questions.

Fix It Up by Morgan Jensen

Visit his website at www.jbshomeimprovement.ca or send your questions to morganjensen@shaw.ca.

Recycling reno debris Every renovation or repair job done in and around the home is going to generate garbage and other materials, including recyclables and reusables. TIMES columnist and Maple Ridge handyman Morgan Jensen offers some tips. • More at www.mrtimes.com

Referendum

‘Yes men’ make pitch for tax The local chamber director said effects of proposed transit tax will be ‘minimal.’

by Troy Landreville

tlandreville@mrtimes.com

Proponents of the “yes” side of the TransLink tax proposal laid out their platform at a Thursday luncheon hosted by the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Chamber of Commerce. The luncheon – Congestion Costs Business, Why a Yes Vote Makes Sense – featured two guest speakers: John Winter, the president, CEO, and director of the BC Chamber of Commerce, as well as Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore – who is also a Metro Vancouver board chair. A provincial sales tax hike in Metro Vancouver, imposed by TransLink to pay for transportation improvements, as well as a new Pattullo Bridge, would raise the PST from seven per cent to 7.5 per cent within the region. Metro Vancouver residents will decide whether or not the 0.5 per cent “Metro Vancouver Congestion Improvement Tax” will go forward when they vote through a mail-in referendum next month. Administered by Elections BC, the plebiscite will see ballots start being mailed to registered voters within the Metro Vancouver region on March 16. Ballots must be mailed back between March 16 and May 29. The tax increase would go

Troy Landreville/TIMES

Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore was one of two guest speakers at the chamber luncheon, Congestion Costs Business, Why a Yes Vote Makes Sense, held Thursday. towards part of the $8-billion pricetag attached to a 10-year transit plan. Among improvements outlined in the plan, Maple Ridge would get a BLine bus to connect the City to the Evergreen SkyTrain line in Coquitlam. Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Anmore, Tri-Cities, and Belcarra, known as the Northeast Sector, is expecting roughly 200,000 new residents in the next 30 years. This includes 64,000 additional people living in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge by 2045, Moore noted. At the same time, the population of the West Coast Express (WCE) service area, with stations in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, will grow by 62 per cent by 2041. To address this ridership demand, the WCE will

add 10 new fleet vehicles and one new locomotive by 2024. Advocates of the “yes” vote argue that “not investing” in Metro Vancouver’s transportation system will lead to more overcrowded SkyTrain cars, traffic gridlock, and even longer commuting times. As well, they claim, funds generated by the tax will allow 37,000 residents to gain access to a new B-Line service. New B-Lines proposed include Coquitlam to Maple Ridge line via Lougheed Highway and Dewdney Trunk Road, and Langley to Pitt Meadows via 200th Street, with connections to Coquitlam via Lougheed Highway. Winter told those at the luncheon that the tax increase is the most equitable way to pay for

these proposed transportation upgrades. “If we don’t get a positive response to the plebiscite, we’re really going to take a significant step backwards,” Winter added. Moore pointed out that since 2010, there has been an 11 per cent increase in transit ridership in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. “These are things that we need to consider as we go forward,” Moore said. “Transit is also needed in our growing neighbourhoods.” The local chamber is backing the “yes” side. Chamber executive director Andrea Madden said the effect the PST tax increase will have on the average household is quite minimal, adding that it is estimated that the average household will pay “only an additional $125 a year.” “The other options examined would have cost the average household more than $200 per year,” she noted. She stressed that many of the basic necessities such as food, shelter, children’s clothing, books, newspapers, professional services, real estate sales, medicine, massage therapy, goods purchased for resale or export, and goods used in the manufacturing or production of an enduse product are exempt from the tax increase. “Therefore, it was determined that it would be the most affordable option for all, including lower income households,” she said. More at www.mrtimes, search “Yes Men”

Parks and recreation

Kanaka receives huge cash influx A bequest from a Metro Vancouver resident will ‘close a funding gap’ for the Maple Ridge park.

by Eric Zimmer ezimmer@mrtimes.com

A generous bequest from the estate of an outdoor-loving Burnaby resident will help enhance Metro Vancouver’s regional parks, including Kanaka Creek in Maple Ridge. George Ross left a total of $2.8 million for the future enjoyment and upkeep of parks throughout the region. Of that amount, $300,000 will benefit the Kanaka Creek Watershed Stewardship Centre project, and help fill the funding gap needed to allow the nature-focused learning facility to become a reality. “All I can say is ‘wow,’” said Ross Davies Kanaka Education and Environmental Partnership Society (KEEPS) coordinator. The announcement was made during a creekside ceremony held at Kanaka Creek this past Friday. “This centre has been a dream of KEEPS for more than a decade,” he added.

Eric Zimmer/TIMES

Kanaka Education and Environmental Partnership Society coordinator Ross Davies spoke at the ceremony. The centre is situated in the 419-hectare Kanaka Creek Regional Park. The key $1.1 million phase of construction will feature a multi-purpose classroom, which will be known as the George Ross Learning Room, as well as washrooms, a separate resource building, and landscaping. Over the next two years, additional wetlands and interpretive stormwater management features will be installed to complete the centre. “I just want express the City’s enormous

gratitude to the Ross family, to Metro Van, and our partners,” said Maple Ridge Mayor Nicole Read. “This is an incredible opportunity for our community, and we’re very grateful to see the funding gap close that will bring this centre to fruition.” Mr. Ross “loved to enjoy many of the natural features of our regional parks system,” said Metro Vancouver Board Chair Greg Moore. “When we were informed of this donation we were just blown away by the generosity, how far it can go, and what it can do.” The remaining $2.5 million from the bequest will be used to create the George Ross Legacy Stewardship program, to be administered by the Pacific Parklands Foundation, which is dedicated to raising funds for Metro Vancouver’s regional parks. “As a biologist... I know how important a facility like this is, and we applaud the late Mr. Ross’s generosity and vision,” said Heather Deal, chair of Metro Vancouver’s regional parks committee. “Off we go into an exciting new chapter for our regional parks,” Davies said on Friday. “We need nature, it’s good for us, it makes us healthy, and we’ve got it out here in spades; this has made my entire day.”

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Times

Structure symbolizes ‘many things’

www.sd42.ca

INFORMATION MEETING

…continued from page A1

“Any additional funds came out of our BC Gaming grants and a multitude of smaller fundraisers,” Raposo added. At the ceremony, Raposo thanked the Meadow Ridge Rotary Club members in attendance. “I think I can speak for all the Glenwood families when I say how grateful we are to Meadow Ridge Rotary Club for their contribution,” Raposo said. For more than a decade, the local service club presented a Rotary Sports Banquet, until it was discontinued in 2013. Over the years, money has been accumulated in a fund allocated specifically for sports facilities in Maple Ridge and/or Pitt Meadows. The Glenwood playground was among the six local projects selected by the club to benefit from its sports legacy fund. Meadow Ridge Rotary Club vice president Ineke Boekhorst told students and parents at the ceremony that the Rotarians were “very happy” to donate money “for this fantastic project.” The beehive “symbolizes so many things about our school,” said Glenwood principal Jovo Bikic. Bikic listed: collaboration

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SO YOU’D LIKE TO QUIT SMOKING? YOUR BEST CHANCE

Troy Landreville/TIMES

This past Thursday, Glenwood Elementary students collectively scaled the newest addition to the school’s playground. – “It was jointly decided by staff, parents and students. And students working together to negotiate space and play.” Creativity – “So many different

ways to reach the top, or a child’s goal, and different games to play.” And “climbing to new heights, as kids find different ways to reach their goals.”

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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Education

Input shows harm to kids’ learning As the local school district prepares its new budget, partners are asked to share how cuts are hurting kids. by Ronda Payne editorial@mrtimes.com

School district budget cuts aren’t anything new to those involved in the school system. The most recent rounds, however, appear to be particularly damaging to student education, according to a letter presented to school trustees by Kellie Marquet, the School District 42 District Parent Advisory Committee (DPAC) chair. With the provincial budget expected to be handed down mid-month, the school board needs to get their ducks in a row to understand the current situation, according to Mike Murray, school trustee chairperson. Trustees asked partners to “share with us any impacts they’d seen resulting from budget cuts of the past couple of years,” Murray noted. “We feel it’s important not only that we hear these stories... we think it’s important to collect these stories and share them with MLAs, and the Ministry of Education, and the B.C. School Trustee Association, because all that adds up to hopefully better decision making at senior government levels,” Murray added. Unfortunately only about 10 people replied to the request for stories sent out by Marquet through a variety of

channels. “They just feel powerless,” she said of why the response from parents may have been low. The letter presented by Marquet in response to the district’s request, detailed a number of issues being felt by a “stressed” school system including: too much weight placed on technology and displacing “basic” needs, not enough professionals to deal with behavioural challenges, secretarial staffing cuts, learning assistance cuts, school supply cuts, school lunch and breakfast program issues, bussing cuts, and the issue that received perhaps the most awareness in the last strike: class sizes. “I do [feel the points in the letter were heard],” said Marquet, of the DPAC presentation to the trustees. Other education partners will also give their feedback as the DPAC did. These inputs will make up part of the budget process. “The first thing we need to know is what we’ve got to work with,” said Murray of the provincial budget. Once the dollars are known, the school board must look at the existing budget in comparison. Cuts in funding from the province means further cuts to the local school system. The process is complex, involving a number of aspects, and the public

will be able to weigh in shortly after spring break. “It’s an important cycle for us to go through,” Murray noted, of gathering input from the partner groups. This input helps the school board see where changes need to be made, but as noted in the DPAC letter, B.C. kids are already funded at $1,000 below the national average for education. DPAC is one of the partners who weighed in. Other partners include the district student advisory council, employee groups (Maple Ridge Teachers Association), CUPE local, Maple Ridge Principal and Vice Principal “The first thing Association, and the district’s senwe need to ior team. know is what “I think it’s time for them we’ve got to [trustees] to work with.” do something Mike Murray further,” said Marquet of the letters the local school board sends to the province to outline the current situation. “I think it’s time for something different... Moreso than letter writing, they need to advocate harder and stronger for public education and just at budget time.” While board meetings addressing the budget begin Wednesday (Feb. 11), with a series of presentations, and continue through March, the public will have its chance to weigh in during a budget committee meeting April 15.

MP Randy Kamp’s executive assistant Mike Murray is seeking federal conservative nomination for this year’s upcoming election.

Federal politics

Murray seeks nod Local MP Randy Kamp’s executive assistant announced he will be seeking federal nomination.

Mike Murray – executive assistant to outgoing conservative MP Randy Kamp – announced last week that he will seek the Conservative for Pitt Meadows-Maple RidgeMission. Similarly, Kamp worked as former MP Grant McNally’s assistant for sevearl years before seeking election himself in 2004. “I’ve had the opportun-

ity to work very closely with one of Canada’s best parliamentarians in Randy Kamp,” Murry said. “I have seen firsthand what it takes to be a Member of Parliament and believe that my experience in Ottawa and serving locally as Mr. Kamp’s executive assistant has made me ready to serve as the next MP for Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-[Mission].” Murray has served as MP Kamp’s executive assistant for close to four years after serving as the Parliamentary Secretary Assistant to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans in 2011.

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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Opinion Who we are The Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows TIMES newspaper is a division of LMP Publication Limited Partnership. We’re located at 22345 North Avenue, Maple Ridge, B.C. The TIMES has a CCAB audited circulation of 29,950.

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rhooper@mrtimes.com Assistant Editor Editorial Troy Landreville Eric Zimmer Advertising Ralph De Adder Graeme Ross Anne Gordon Sheryl Jones Distribution Supervisor Wendy Bradley Administration Rebecca Nickerson

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Our View

Move quickly to avoid slope

Here comes the slippery slope. The federal government must act quickly to ensure no one slides off the edge and into the abyss created as a side-effect of last week’s Supreme Court ruling on assisted suicide. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects an individual’s right to die with dignity, and consequently struck down Canada’s laws against physicianassisted suicide. The ruling means someone with a terminal illness, and especially someone facing a painful and terrifying death can seek a doctor’s help to achieve a relatively comfortable and dignified end of life. But the Supreme Court only has jurisdiction to interpret or set aside laws. It does not have the power to amend, rewrite, or replace laws. The federal government has that power, and must act quickly to fill the legal vacuum. Left unfilled, that vacuum has the potential to suck in people who need protection from the abuses feared by those who have vigilantly fought against legalized assisted suicide. Without laws detailing what situations allow rational recourse to assisted suicide, people who could be saved by an alternative intervention could instead slide down that proverbial “slippery slope.” Unscrupulous, malicious, ignorant, or simply exhausted family members and caregivers have been known to convince the elderly and the infirm that suicide is the best or only solution to a desperate situation, even when it clearly is not. The Supreme Court has justly decided that we each own our “self,” and that under certain circumstances, and after due consideration, we have the right to dispose of our property in a reasonable and rational manner. The federal government slipped up by not having had the compassion that the court has shown. It should have defined those “certain circumstances” long ago. – B.G.

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Attending community events

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It’s a wasted day

10 %

It’s a Christy Clark ploy

23 %

Vote online at: www.mrtimes.com

Opinion

Extinction nothing to sneeze at

There are protests all over the of destroying species willy nilly place these days. You can’t so was one of the main things that much as say the word “environhelped you to sleep soundly at ment” without someone looking night. at you askance, waiting anxiously But what are you doing about to hear what you’ll say next: are it? you about to reveal yourself as I know, if you’re part of the a pro-environment threat to the “necessary evil” crowd, you’re national economy, or will the doing nothing about it. Why next syllable out of your mouth would you? Fair enough. unmask you as a radical speciesBut what about those of you killing redneck Harper-lover? who know that it’s wrong and by Bob Groeneveld But whether you’re planning to that we have to do something vote for the environment or for before our entire planet’s biothe Conservatives, it’s a fair bet that you’re like diversity is reduced to that of a giant wheat field practically everybody else in one respect: nobody – one crop consisting of one variety of one spelikes to see a species become extinct. cies? Surely you want to do something that you You may not believe that it’s happening, or could take to your Last Judgment, to legitimately you may not believe that you, as a human being, plead, “But, Your Honour, I tried.” can possibly have a significant impact on the In reality, very few of us could truly do that. planet’s overall biosphere. Very few of us will leave this world firm in the You may or may not believe that you have knowledge that we did all we could to save at any personal responsibility – you may not even least one species from extinction during our brief believe that it is an inherently bad thing – but journey through our own miserable, pitiful life. I’ll bet that when you see a picture of one of Except the anti-vaxxers! those baby seals about to be clubbed between You’ve got to tip your hat to those folks their sparklingly sweet eyes and skinned alive, it – they’re doing their bit, where most of the rest doesn’t make you feel good. of us have been falling desperately short. You may refuse to believe that it’s your fault, They have been at the forefront of the battle but I’ll bet when you see hundreds of thousands to save a number of important species, but most of acres of Brazilian forests burning, spewing recently, they’ve been bearing the standard on tons of smoke into the air and destroying the behalf of measles. homes and habitats of thousands of species By refusing to vaccinate their children for a – many of them not even identified yet by the variety of spurious and downright nonsensical most important species of all – it doesn’t make reasons, they have been able to rebuild over you feel good. the past couple of years the measles population It may not reduce you to tears or fill you with that had been virtually eradicated from North angst for our dwindling future – but admit it, it America a decade ago. doesn’t make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Okay, I’ll admit, measles isn’t exactly on the Whether you quake at the thought or you brink of planetary extinction – there’s enough simply feel it’s a necessary evil in a world that measles in other parts of the world to kill a few deserves to be dominated by humanity and hundred thousand children each year. its technology, you would be among the absoBut that’s human children. And we’re not even lutely most unusual among us if the thought close to extinct… yet.

Odd Thoughts

editorial@mrtimes.com

Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Times

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Religion

Radicals born of fundamentalism

Dear Editor, Humans are such ironic creatures! Everything around us is constantly changing. Numerous things in our lives are cyclical. The certain things in life are death, taxes, and change. Letters Whether one believes in a creator to or is a creationist, all can agree that the our universe never stops moving and changing. It’s a thing we call “time.” Most religions can agree to a few premises: the deity is beyond time; all creations are perfect, even if in many cases the wisdom of the perfection is beyond our limited knowledge and abilities; religion serves as a framework to life. Based on these premises, one can conclude that religion is a prefect timeless framework through which we choose to navigate life. With this conclusion in hand, along with the earlier observation that change is constant and inevitable, we can see the error in our long-standing view of religion.

Many of us are guilty of seeing religion as stuck in antiquity. Hence the recent calls to change religion. I beg to differ, rather than changing religion, we should change how we view religion. Viewing religion as the perfect creation that as all other creations is constantly changing opens one’s mind to seeing religion as a fluid and dynamic framework. Through this new vantage point one can see how blasphemous it would be for anyone to interpret religion literally, thereby removing the façade of what is commonly referred to as fundamentalism. To remove fundamentalism would eliminate much of the philosophy behind radicalization. We can all agree that to change one’s self is easier than changing the world. I have faith, and among the things I have faith in are humans reaching their greatest potential. Ahmed Yousef, Maple Ridge

Editor

Transportation

Taxes acceptable provided there is value

Dear Editor, We need more transportation options and better service in Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, and Metro Vancouver. We need to find a way to contribute more tax dollars to fund this improved transportation. That probably means we need to pay more tax? But regardless of how the tax money is collected, every contributor needs to see value for every cent paid. The Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation wants to spend $7.5 billion in the next 10 years drastically improving transportation in Metro Vancouver. They have reviewed several new funding sources and have determined that a 0.5 per cent regional increase to the Provincial Sales Tax is the most fair funding source. There are approximately 100,000 of us living in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows who will be paying the same 0.5 per cent as the rest of Metro Vancouver residents.

What you’re telling us on Facebook An emaciated Siberian husky that was •brought to the Maple Ridge SPCA shelter

is currently on the receiving end of some vital TLC. Readers reacted to the story:

“Aw. Sweet Dog.”

– Jennifer MG

“ My guess is the dog was probably stolen, maybe from another province, and dumped in Maple Ridge when the dog couldn’t be sold.” – DeWit Jack “We found this dog on my street outside my house on 256th [Street]. Probably was dumped. She looked terrible.” – Ella Missy “Where they found this dog is a very woodsy area with little houses. Do you think he possibly got lost and had been starving?? I just worry if that is the case they might not come forward, too scared of the backlash. I guess I am just hoping that is the case, and not abuse. He’s so beautiful.” – Kimberley Wernicke “I hate when people jump to conclusions. I bet she’s been missing and her owners are worried sick.” – Jennifer Beane “ I am so glad Willow is in good hands now! Thank you to the Good Samaritan!” – Tails N Trails Dog Walking

Share your views. Like us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/MapleRidgePittMeadowsTimes

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is the chair of the Mayors’ Council and is committed to building a 5.1-kilometre subway off the Millennium SkyTrain Line. Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner is the vicechair of the Mayors’ Council and is committed to bringing light rail transit to Surrey. Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are hoping to receive a B-line bus to the new Evergreen Line, one more West Coast Express Train, and some buses. How does this value seem fair? The Mayors’ Council is also looking at road pricing. In addition to the new 0.5 per cent tax, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows residents will have to pay to drive on the roads to the rest of Metro Vancouver. So we still have an inadequate transit system and have to drive to get where we need to go, plus we pay the same 0.5 per cent tax as a Vancouver or Surrey resident. I’m on board with road pricing; all bridges should be tolled. My family pays about $600 per year to use the Golden Ears Bridge. I’m satisfied. It gets us to where we want to go, quickly and efficiently. Road pricing and bridge tolls combined with other initiatives like a transportation property tax weighted to the areas receiving the most improvements are the fairest way to pay for improved transportation. You use it, you pay for it. Nick Davis, Silver Ridge

Transportation

Taxes, effort wasted

Dear Editor, TransLink should have not wasted so much of our money on silly gimmicks, and instead put precious tax dollars into important things like maintaining the Expo Line properly and avoiding massive shutdowns. We could have had TransLink executives and a board of directors held accountable by our elected officials. The premier, the minister of transportation and the TransLink mayors could have pushed harder to stop TransLink waste before it got out of hand. The TransLink mayors could have worked together to prioritize their $7.5 billion wish list, thinking instead about what the region and its taxpayers could bear, not what they could package politically. The TransLink mayors did not have to pitch a new sales tax. Jordan Bateman, B.C. Director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation Letters on this page have been edited for space. For longer versions, or more letters to the editor visit... www.mrtimes.com – Click on Opinion, or search the writers’ names.

LETTERS POLICY: Copyright in letters and other materials submitted voluntarily to the Publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the Publisher and its licensees may freely reproduce them in print, electronic, or other forms. Letters are also subject to editing for content and length. The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows TIMES is a division of LMP Publication Limited Partnership.

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Fundraiser

Songs celebrate Valentine’s Day

With proceeds going to the Heart & Stroke Foundation, the Local Chords will sing their hearts out to lucky recipients in Maple Ridge this Saturday.

The Local Chords are available to deliver singing telegrams to lucky recipients within Maple Ridge on Valentine’s Day, with proceeds going to the Heart & Stroke Foundation. February is Heart Month.

by Troy Landreville tlandreville@mrtimes.com

Plucking at someone’s heartstrings on Valentine’s Day is just a phone call away. The Local Chords, a Maple Ridgebased four-piece vocal ensemble made up of Caroline Arnal (soprano), Melissa Pratas (alto), Melissa Friesen (soprano), and Jamie Umpleby (baritone), will serenade people’s sweethearts on Saturday, Feb. 14, in support of the Heart & Stroke Foundation. With the Valentine’s Day’s heart theme in mind, proceeds from the single day Sing-O-Grams go to the foundation. It’s a worthy cause, considering February is Heart Month, which is the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s opportunity to reach millions of Canadians in February and alert them to the risks of heart disease and stroke. According to the foundation, heart disease and stroke take one life every seven minutes and 90 per cent of Canadians have at least one risk The Local Chords even visited a factor. restaurant and sang to a patron. Arnal was part of last year’s fundThis Feb. 14, the group will travel raiser for the foundation and loved anywhere in Maple Ridge from noon the experience. to 6 p.m. to deliver a song, or two, “It was amazing,” she said. “I to a recipient. think we sang to six There are four lucky recipients … “Being a recipient of songs to choose and it was wonderful. from: Everybody just loved a singing Valentine is • Dream A Little it, it brought tears to just a wonderful thing, Dream (Mamas and some people’s eyes, the Papas), a wonderful gift.” and some people were • I Just Called just shocked that there Caroline Arnal to Say I Love You were people singing (Stevie Wonder), to them at their front • L.O.V.E. (Michael Buble), door. Being a recipient of a singing • Make You Feel My Love (Adele). Valentine is just a wonderful thing, a The options are, one song for $30, wonderful gift.” or two songs for $45. To include a It wasn’t just guys ordering Singbouquet of flowers, an additional O-Grams for their gals last year. $25 fee is added. A man received one from his wife, Those interested in booking a song and he was the only one of the six or two for their heart’s desire can recipients who didn’t receive a boucontact Arnal at 604-765-6472. quet of flowers.

An Afternoon Of Valentine’s Music with Popular and Classical Arias

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Tickets at the door - $15 Seniors $10 Children under 10 no charge Group rates are available

A committee will have an opportunity to provide input to Pitt Meadows Council.

Interested in getting involved in Pitt Meadows municipal politics? A select committee will make recommendations on ways to improve citizen interactions with City departments and Council. The size of the committee is unlimited, and is open to all residents, business owners, stakeholders or volunteers in Pitt Meadows. Email pmopengov@pittmeadows.bc.ca or call 604465-5454 with your name, contact information, and why you are interested in joining the committee.

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The tentative cut-off date for ordering a Sing-O-Gram is the day prior (Friday, Feb. 13) so the group can have time to arrange flowers and schedule their day. The Local Chords take this fundraiser seriously. The members practise two hours on Monday nights and an hour-anda-half every other Saturday. Arnal joined the group three years ago, while taking vocal lessons at the Bergthorson Academy of Musical Arts. The Local Chords do a lot of work around Maple Ridge, she said, visiting seniors centres and at community events such as Earth Day and Canada Day, and Country Fest. “I just love getting together with a group of people who have the same love of music, and we just sing and make beautiful sounds together,” she said.

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Name: Address: Phone:

Drop off The Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Times or mail: #2-22345 North Avenue, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 8T2 Contest deadline is Friday, Feb. 13, 2015.

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Showcasing some of this community’s people and happenings

Laity View l Elementary principa ton Lin ey Shell joined Grade 1 students Connor O’Brien (left), Rocco Hickman, and Alyssa Blencoe, as well as Rocco’s mother Lisa for a photo op. Each month the student council hosts a . themed-day. On Jan ed rat leb ce 30 they with an ’80s Day. There was a lot of fluorescent spotted around the school that day with kids especially “loving” this theme, Linton said.

What’s On

www.mrtimes.com Post events 10 days in advance by email to:

editorial@mrtimes.com

Feb 10: Weavers

• Whonnock Weavers and Spinners hold a Spin In, in the lobby of The ACT at 7:30 p.m. Visitors, guests, or those interested in becoming new members are all welcome. Info: Marie at 604-462-9059.

Feb 11: Gogos

Troy Landreville/TIMES Members of the Me adow Ridge Rotary Clu b were at Glenwood Eleme ntary on Thursday afternoon, at the ribbon cutting for a major piece of pla yground equipment that the club had a major ha nd in funding, to the tune of $14,0 00.

Maple Ridge Mayor Nicole Read and Andrea Madden, the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce serving Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, rubbed shoulders during this past Thursday’s luncheon at the Pitt Meadows Golf Club. The focal point of the luncheon was the upcoming referendum on the 0.5-per-cent increase on the provincial sales tax to pay for transit improvements.

• Golden Ears Gogos host their monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Fraser Room of the Maple Ridge Library. The group raises funds for the Stephen Lewis foundation, which supports African grandmothers who care for children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic. Info: Lynn at lrajala@shaw.ca, or 604-467-1235, or heather at hcrum@ telus.net.

Feb 12: HUB cycling

• Join the HUB Maple RidgePitt Meadows committee at their monthly meeting at the Maple Ridge Library in the Alouette Room, from 6:45 to 8:45 p.m., to discuss cycling issues in the community.

Feb 12: Wellness

• London Drugs hosts a Nutrition and Your Metabolism clinic from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Valley Fair Mall. Pharmacists offer one-on-one consulting about how to set and achieve healthy lifestyle goals and better eating habits. $15 admission.

Troy Landreville/TIMES

Feb 13, 14: Hot Flashes

Troy Landreville/TIMES

A roomful of people at the Pitt Meadows Golf Club listened to guest speakers including BC Chamber of Commerce president and CEO John Winter, as well as Port Coquitlam Mayor and Metro Vancouver board chair Greg Moore during Thursday’s chamber lunch that focused on the proposed transit tax.

Troy Landreville/TIMES

How can you share?

Do you have a local photo of someone or some place you’d like to share with the rest of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows? Email it to us as a high-resolution .JPEG to editorial@mrtimes.com. Please include a brief description – including everyone’s ﬁrst and last name. Put “faces & places” in the subject line of your email.

Settling into their seats for Thursday, Feb. 5 luncheon at Pitt Meadows Golf Club, hosted by the Maple Ridge-Pitt Me adows Chamber of Commerce, were Dan and Jeanne Kosicki (middle). Meanwhile, among others at the luncheon were John Percha ll and Susan Madden (above) and Mic helle Jones-Ruppel from West Coast Auto Gro up and Maple Ridge Councillor Bob Masse. The luncheon was specific to the transit tax refe rendum, and was called Congestion Costs Bus iness, Why a Yes Vote Makes Sense.

• Open Door Church in Maple Ridge hosts Hot Flashes: A Valentine’s dinner theatre show. Feb. 13 show at 8 p.m., doors at 7. On Feb. 14, doors open at 6 p.m., dinner is at 6:30, and show is at 8. Tickets: $20 Info: www.eventbrite. ca.

Feb 14: Sarah Slean

• Three-time JUNO award nominee Sarah Slean performs at The ACT. The show will be Slean’s only performance in B.C. Tickets are $35 for adults, $30 for seniors, and $15 for students. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets and info at www.theactmapleridge.org.

• Full list: www.mrtimes.com

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Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Times

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An awards ceremony, a webinar, and a guided walking tour in downtown Haney mark heritage week. by Cole Wagner

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#650, 22470 Dewdney Trunk Road Maple Ridge, B.C. V2X 5Z6 ination process each year,” said Zosiak. “Some years, people just don’t have the time.” The awards are part of the larger Maple Ridge Heritage Week, which takes place from Feb. 16 to 22. The awards night on Feb. 19 is just one of a number of heritage-themed activities planned for the week. There will be a webinar (a web-based seminar) hosted at City hall on Feb. 18, exploring the relationship between downtown revitalization and heritage conservation. On Feb. 20, residents are invited to join Erica Williams of the Maple Ridge Historical Society on a guided walking historical tour of Haney’s downtown core. To get tickets for the awards night, or to register for the webinar, people can contact Lisa Zosiak at 604-467-7383. To register for the walking tour, folks can call the Maple Ridge Museum at 604463-5311.

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Nominations poured in this year for the Maple Ridge heritage awards, resurrecting the awards portion of the annual celebration of civic history. There will be six honourees this year, five more winners than the previous two years combined. Last year, there were no nominations, while in 2013, there was only one – Becky Robinson and Gary MacNeal, who restored the home of the first physician in Hammond. This year, there will be winners in six categories: historical landscape, history teaching, heritage research, preservation of historical collections, stewardship of a community cultural asset, and a special “History Hero” award. But while Lisa Zosiak – a planner with the City – is pleased with the number of nominations this year, she believes the low nomination count from the past two years isn’t a cause for concern. “We typically see the same group of people doing the legwork during the nom-

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AND THE GOODLIFE

Century ‘slipped by pretty fast’: Thomas Haney The grandson of a Maple Ridge pioneer will celebrate his 100th birthday on March 3. by Kelli Sinoski Special to The TIMES

There was a time when Thomas Haney would visit the beer parlour in Haney and everybody knew his name. He is, after all, a grandson of the late Thomas Haney, who bought 1,000 acres for $1,000 in 1876 and created Port Haney on the banks of the Fraser River, with a brickyard, waterworks and livery stable to help it grow and prosper. But these days, Haney rarely ventures across the river to his grandfather’s namesake townsite, now part of Maple Ridge. And when he does, his presence barely makes a ripple. “It’s changing all the time and it’s growing bigger,” Haney said. “Hardly anybody knows me anymore over there. Most of my friends are gone.” That’s not surprising: Haney will hit 100 on March 3. He says it’s a birthday he never expected to celebrate, noting cheekily that while he often slept in the “priest’s room” at the heritage Haney House, where his aunt and cousins lived, he “wasn’t a good boy.” “I was a little off track,” he said as he relaxed in his home in Langley’s Walnut

Ric Ernst, PNG

Thomas Haney spoke to The Vancouver Sun about growing up in Haney, B.C. at his Langley home on Tuesday . Haney, who is turning 100 years old next month, is the grandson of Thomas Haney, below, the founder of his namesake town.

Grove. “I used to drink and go around with the boys. I smoked for a bit, too, but I dropped that, which was a good thing.” Haney’s job at the waterworks was

Celebrating his ﬁrst anniversary.

mainly digging ditches by hand. “I’ve been digging all my life,” Haney sa “There wasn’t much money, so I was out of school and digging ditches.” Meantime, the humble township was undergoing massive change. The construction of the Lougheed Highway up the hill drew the bank, post office and other businesses from Port Haney to what would become the major shopping district. The shift led to a dispute between Haney and the nearby Hammond townsfolk, many of them relations, who refused to collect their mail at Haney. This resulted in the renaming of the area to Maple Ridge. Around this time, Thomas Haney was involved in a different war, having been sent overseas in the army. He never made it to the front lines, but spent four years serving in Europe. “I wanted to get out of there,” he said. When he returned in 1946, still in his army clothes, he met Eleanor, a Prairie girl who spun a yarn about how her father owned farms in the Prairies and the U.S. “I could see myself on horseback chasing some cows and it all turned out to be bull,” Haney said. Still, he married her a year later. “It stuck. We’re doing pretty good, you know,” he said. “We both work pretty hard.”

The couple, who had four children, moved to Langley Township when Haney got tired of taking the ferry over the river to the family-owned shingle mill. He dug posts for BC Hydro, which he described as hard work because one shovelful would be good and the next would be clay. He’s still digging, he said, but it’s mainly confined to the potatoes and beets in his backyard. And although he visited Haney House for his son Kevin’s wedding three years ago, Haney said he rarely goes back to his hometown, which has been “so built up” since he was a boy. But there are still vestiges of the town the senior Haney built. Port Haney at the bottom of the hill has been preserved as a heritage area while many of the local streets still bear the names of his family members or neighbours, such as Ruskin, Albion and Websters’ Corner. And even the little white church, which was brought over from Langley by the late Thomas Haney and his wife and where the 100year-old Haney was married – remains in nearby Hammond. “The years have slipped by pretty fast,” Haney said. “When you’re younger you don’t say you’re going to live until you’re 100.” – Kelly Sinoski is with the Vancouver Sun

• More at www.mrtimes.com, search “Thomas Haney”

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High school hoops

Pitt player poised for flight

A breakout Pitt Meadows Secondary hoops player is set to make an impact on the court at SFU next year. Howard Tsumura Special to the TIMES

Ridge Meadows Flames face off at home against Mission this Friday.

Flames finish up As they wind down their season, the Ridge Meadows Flames junior B hockey squad faces off for the final time against Mission City Outlaws this Friday on home turf at Planet Ice. Game time is 7:30 p.m. • More online: www.mrtimes.com, click on “Sports”

Curlers travel Team Dezura of the Golden Ears Winter Club took part in the 2015 Canadian Direct Insurance BC men’s curling championships in Vernon this past week. • More online: www.mrtimes.com, click on “Sports”

Bruins in action Ridge Meadows Bruins rugby club went head-to-head against East Vancouver’s the Scribes RFC at Thomas Haney Secondary on Saturday afternoon. • More online: www.mrtimes.com, click on “Sports”

Ridge Meadows Moose players are taking a stand against bullying.

Moose make nice In 2012, current Meadow Ridge Moose female hockey player created Hockey Against Bullying: a local initiative designed to raise awareness about anti-bullying, as well as mental health. All proceeds go to the Amanda Todd Legacy Foundation. • More online: www.mrtimes.com, click on “Sports”

Send your scores and game reports to sports@mrtimes.com

The best thing about Graham Smith is that his worth to a basketball team extends well beyond its face value, which already happens to be substantial. See the 6’5” senior forward do his thing on a daily basis with the Pitt Meadows Marauders, and you’re convinced that he is one of the most effective low-post players in the B.C. high school Class of 2015. Yet project his progress through the perspective of a different prism, one focused more on potential and possibility, and you begin to see him in an entirely different light. “The reason he is going to do well (at the university level) is that it doesn’t matter what kind of a system you put him in,” said Simon Fraser Clan head coach James Blake, whose NCAA Div. 2 program welcomes Smith to its ranks next season. “His strength is basketball. He’s just a basketball player.” And that’s important to note because while many high school stars refine their games as they progress through their university careers, Smith’s will undergo something of a re-invention with the Clan. Currently averaging 27 points and 17 rebounds within an offensive system at Pitt where his dance steps regularly take him through the key, Smith is set to join an SFU program whose identity is its hightempo, shoot-and-press scheme. “I will have to work on my speed more, and my outside shot because they love to run,” said Smith, who is a four-time Basketball B.C. select, and this past summer led the provincial team in scoring, rebounding and assists at the national championships. “But I also think that I can help with my rebounding, and driving the ball. I think I have a bit of a different dynamic.” In essence, that is the

Steve Bosch/The Province

Pitt Meadows Secondary Marauders’ hoops star Graham Smith is hoping to make an impact when he heads to Simon Fraser University next year. When it comes to how Smith will perform at the university level, his coach Rich Goulet (inset) has said 6’5” senior forward will “either strive or he won’t.”

prism with which Blake has watched Smith, banking on his ability to thrive in an up-tempo setting, while still maintaining all the traits which have allowed him to dominate with his high school team. And clearly, he has dominated. Longtime Pitt Meadows head coach Rich Goulet has guided the careers of a number of quality post players over the decades, including the likes of Scott Walton, Curtis Mepham, Aaron Christensen and Bryson Kool, but none has been the object of such suffocating attention as Smith who regularly faces triple-team defences.

So regularly has Smith Still, Smith has never been able to draw fouls settled on being a oneand get to the free throw dimensional player. line over his high school With superb vision career, that Goulet wonand passing ability, he is ders out loud whether currently averaging five referees get tired of blowassists per game, and with ing their whistles after a his lengthy wingspan, he while. has shown And an added “I will have to work on although dimenSmith has my speed more, and my sion in the battled open floor. outside shot because consistency “I think they love to run.” from the my driving stripe, he has been Graham Smith has been a huge a force in part of it,” piling up the foul count on Smith said of his improved opposition forwards. dribble-drive game. “He goes to the line “I am good down in the between 12 and 20 times a post, but I can also take game,” begins Goulet. the bigger guys up top. “I would estimate that I am a bit shorter than over the last two years, he them, but that hasadded has gone to the free throw up to more agility, and line more times than the I’ve got longer arms to be rest of our team has over able to finish.” the last three years.” Goulet, who has coached

in parts of the last five decades, doesn’t sugarcoat the challenge that every high school player faces as he transitions to next level. “He is going to have to learn and add different things to his game, and high school is not the place to add those things,” said Goulet of Smith, who is likely to take a red-shirt season in 2015-16. “University is. He’ll pick that stuff up the first year and either he’ll strive or he won’t. “It’s going to be a whole different ball game,” Goulet added. It’s important to note that Goulet made those comments with Smith standing right next to him. If it was intended as a challenge, Smith will gladly accept it.

-Howard Tsmura is a with The Province

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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Times

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

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Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Times

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