B.C. Views Things you can’t say in elections. p6
Midget lacrosse teams earn medals. p20
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www.mapleridgenews.com Wednesday, May 15, 2013 · Serving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows · est. 1978 · 604-467-1122 · 50¢
Nail-biters in Maple Ridge
Liberal candidate Doug Bing led a close race in Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows.
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows: A see-saw battle, for awhile
“Let’s give it time,” added another. The numbers changed again just minutes later with Bing posting 1,080 votes to Rosenau’s 1,026. “It’s going to be close, apparently,” said Rosenau, nursing a cup coffee while an assistant perused a election results on his phone. “It’s going to be down to the wire,” she said in the half-empty St. Andrew’s Heritage Church in Port Haney. “We are in a tight riding, the two tightest ridings in the province. It’s a very divided riding. We felt that right from the beginning.” Although the campaign got off to a slow start, after delays in being declared the Liberal candidate, Bing said the election went well and that he did everything he could and “left nothing on the table.” Maple Ridge Coun. Cheryl Ashlie’s leadership of the campaign helped a lot, he added. Rosenau said she had an “amazing time.” “It’s up to the voters now,” she said 40 minutes after polls closed at 8 p.m. The voters eventually had their say. By 9:50 p.m., Bing led 6,820-6,151 with 100 of 129 ballot boxes reporting.
By Phil M elnyc h u k , staff reporter
I
t was too close to call in Maple RidgePit Meadows in the minutes after polls closed on Tuesday. As results rolled up on the TV screen, the see-saw battle with voters affections looked to continue for a while. “It’s coming along. It’s a good start,” said Liberal Doug Bing, a dentist, shortly before the first unofficial numbers showed, with Bing taking 40 votes and Rosenau 22. Then the numbers reversed and Rosenau, a pharmacist, was sitting with 226 votes and Bing 203. Heavy sighs followed along with gasps of exasperation in the downtown Maple Ridge Liberal campaign headquarters on Lougheed Highway. “I thought it might be a nail biter all night,” said a Bing supporter.
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Phil Melnychuk/the news
Colleen Flanagan/the news
Liberal Marc Dalton was leading by about 100 votes with half the ballot boxes left to count.
Maple Ridge-Mission: Riding results slow to come in B y Monisha M ar t ins, staff reporter
T
wo hours after polls closed, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows was once again too close to call. With 37 of 125 ballot boxes reporting, B.C. Liberal Marc Dalton lead with 2,181 votes while New Democrat Mike Bocking was not far behind with 2,293 votes. Bocking’s camp had no comment at 9 p.m. “We are not commenting until polls come in. It’s too close to call,” said Bocking’s campaign manager, Joanne McNevin. NDP volunteers at Bocking’s office were optimistic earlier in the evening, with one saying the response has been “fabulous”. In 2009, incumbent Dalton won the riding with 68 votes. Dalton watched the polls come in at his campaign office surrounded by family. He campaigned until polls closed, clock-
ing a couple of 10 hour days of doorknocking on the weekend. He wants the gap to be wider this time so campaigning harder to make every vote count. “I hope it’s not too tight race,” said Dalton. “You realize it could be a difference of a few dozen votes. I hope it’s at least a 300 vote separation this time. Everybody has worked hard and I know other campaigns that have worked hard. We shall see what happens.” A public school teacher, Dalton is Métis and previously ran as a federal Conservative candidate. His tenure as the MLA for Maple RidgeMission however has not been smooth. In 2011, he was targeted for recall as part of the anti-Harmonized Sales Tax campaign but survived after organizers failed to collect enough signatures to trigger a by-election. Alex Pope of the Green Party of B.C. had 473 votes as of 10 p.m. while B.C. Conservative Chad Thompson got 320.
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