Dear Editor,
The hypocrisy of Maple Ridge Mayor Dan Ruimy pretending to value our community’s history and heritage needs to be addressed.
In actual fact, rather than supporting the recognition of Maple Ridge’s history, Mayor Ruimy has been suppressing it, or even helping to destroy it.
In The News story “Heritage awards celebrate the story of Maple Ridge,” he is quoted as saying, “We are truly fortunate to have residents, groups, and businesses deeply committed to protecting the stories and places that define Maple Ridge.”
The mayor continues by saying that the heritage awards help “shine a light on the people, places, and projects that safeguard and share the stories that make our community unique.”
Yet a year ago, Ruimy’s council degraded the heritage commission from commission to committee status, and inexplicably collapsed it along with the transportation committee into what is now called liveable community advisory committee – with a focus on housing and community livability.
What used to be the heritage commission is now prohibited from its long-time practice of allowing residents and organizations interested in history and heritage to make presentations at meetings, or even to make suggestions, comments, or ask questions.
During last year’s 150th anniversary of Maple Ridge celebrations, plans for activities designed by longtime active community members were shunted aside, and well-known Maple Ridge musicians were excluded – even one who had written and recorded songs about local history.
Instead, for $350,000 of local taxpayers’ money, the “Our Neck of the Woods” festival featured an Ontario band best known for performing Justin Trudeau’s Liberal campaign song.
And last year, representatives from the Maple Ridge Museum and historical society desperately appealed to council for funding for an air-conditioned archives, pointing out that every other municipality in the region had one, while valuable records of Maple Ridge’s history were deteriorating, and many had been destroyed.
Their request was ignored, and they were dismissed with a pat on the head for their good work in the community.
Steve Ranta, Maple Ridge
Former vice-chair Maple Ridge heritage commission