Maple Ridge News, June 14, 2013

Page 1

Sidewinder In business of representing Ridge. p6

Nurse part of mission on Mercy ship. p3

THE NEws

Sports Neptunes host 55th annual swim meet. p28

www.mapleridgenews.com Friday, June 14, 2013 · serving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows · est. 1978 · 604-467-1122 · 50¢

Pitt council denies MLA Bing a leave Will resign from civic duties, but not sure when by M on i sh a M ar ti n s staff reporter

Colleen Flanagan/the NeWs

Go fetch

The new MLA for Maple RidgePitt Meadows failed to get support for a leave of absence from city council Tuesday, when several colleagues called on him to resign. Doug Bing is Bing now tasked with deciding whether to resign or carry on as a city councillor for Pitt Meadows until the new year to avoid a byelection. “I think I’m going to have a meeting with the mayor and have a discussion about where we go from here,” said Bing, who was sworn in as MLA Friday. see Bing, p9

Maggie, a chocolate lab, paddles back to shore after retrieving a stick at Whonnock Lake on Thursday.

Heated debate over hospital parking Letter from district lawyer suggests there are no easy answers by Phil M elnyc h u k staff reporter

A letter from a lawyer for the District of Maple Ridge says it can’t do anything about pay parking at Ridge Meadows Hospital, but council isn’t done with the issue yet. After heated debate Monday, Coun. Cheryl Ashlie is going to raise the topic the next time mayors and councillors meet with Fraser Health.

But council rejected a move by Coun. Corisa Bell to have all of council meet with Fraser Health, the Minister of Health Terry Lake, local MLAs Doug Bing and Marc Dalton, along with MP Randy Kamp and continue to investigate whether Maple Ridge can ban pay parking at Bell the hospital. “We asked for a legal opinion and we got it. Now we’re trying to figure it out whether we’re quasi lawyers,” said Coun. Al

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Hogarth. “We’ve gone through considerable expense and time over the question of parking at the hospital. I think we’ve done more than ample to try to address the public’s concerns.” It’s time to hear how Fraser Health responds after Ashlie raises the issue at a municipal govAshlie ernment advisory council meeting, he added. Bell first raised the issue a year ago after people complained about getting park-

Index Opinion Letters Cycling As We Age Community Calendar sports homes

6 7 17 19 24 28 35

ing tickets in the lots operated by Impark. Members of a local group, the Rx Rockers, were even slapped with $60 fines after doing a charity Christmas concert at Baillie House. They were ticketed despite having parking passes issued by the Fraser Health facility. A five-page letter from the district’s lawyer concludes, the only way the district can regulate parking fees at the hospital is if a public health bylaw is adopted under the Community Charter, with the OK of the Ministry of Health. But lawyer Gregg Cockrill doubts the minister would approve that. see Parking, p4

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