A Better Maple Ridge

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for your support and vote on Saturday. I'm honoured to be one of your new city councillors.

This colonial structure of municipal government in Maple Ridge operates on the traditional and unceded territories of the Katzie First Nation and Kwantlen First Nation. I've learned that municipal government was a recent and uninvited addition to this area - the first mayor was elected in 1874 - while the Katzie First Nation and Kwantlen First Nation have been here for time immemorial. Maple Ridge has a lot to do when it comes to reconciliation, and I acknowledge I now carry a large portion of that responsibility.

A shoutout to many of the other great candidates who ran in this election - Sarah Little - Maple Ridge Council candidate, Rebecca Stiles, Bhupinder Johar for Council, Rajinder Chhina, Jeffrey Martin, and more - and all the work they put into sharing their visions for change in Maple Ridge. I learned a good deal from them. You folks rock!

A special thank-you to my colleagues and friends on A Better Maple Ridge - mayor-elect Dan Ruimy and councillors-elect Dozie for Council, Korleen Carreras for Maple Ridge City Council, and Elect Sunny Schiller. And also to councillors-elect Ahmed Yousef and Judy Dueck Councillor - I look forward to learning so much from you.

After all the hugging and cheering on election night, a volunteer pulled me over and told me that this is when the hard part starts. We have so many great things in our city - the deep-rooted community spirit and all the folks who get involved, the parks, the mountains and rivers - and also so many thorny issues to tackle. In the next four years, please stay involved. Please send me and the rest of your councillors your questions, ideas, and comments. Call us. Email us. Tell us your thoughts about what needs to change and what we should celebrate. I definitely don't have all the answers. And you are my boss!

The inaugural meeting of the new council is Nov 1st and my contact info will be on the city's website for easy reference anytime. Hit me up! I look forward to hearing from you.

It's Election Day ! Your chance to vote for the level of government that effects your daily life the most only happens once every fours years. Don't waste this opportunity. Please vote for the A Better Maple Ridge team of candidates:

Dan Ruimy for Mayor
Korleen Carreras for Maple Ridge City Council
Dozie for Council
Elect Sunny Schiller for Council
Jenny Tan for Maple Ridge City Council