A familiar name will re-appear on the federal election ballots when Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge residents head to the polls on Sept. 20.
Steve Ranta has announced this weekend that he’s once again running as an independent in the local riding.
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The long-time local resident last ran in the 43rd Canada election during October 2019 that saw Marc Dalton win the riding as a Conservative MP. In this battle, Ranta again running as an independent and drew 462 ballots – 54 fewer than when he ran as an independent in the 2015 federal election.
And it’s not just the federal realm that has had his eye. Ranta ran in the 2017 provincial election as an independent, garnering 408 of the 27,059 votes.
At present, he’s competing with incumbent Conservative MP Marc Dalton and Liberal hopeful Ahmed Yousef.
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Once again, Ranta claims that Canada is facing a number of crises, and “voting for any of the major parties is sending the wrong signal that it’s okay to just keep doing business as usual,” he said.
“Canada should have been taking real action to deal with a number of serious problems, including climate change, forest health, inadequate health care, outmoded transportation, growing inequality, and lack of affordable housing.”
LAST ELECTION: Ranta running as an independent in Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge
Ranta is adamant that failure of recent Tory and Liberal federal governments to take real action to address climate change has been “a betrayal of all Canadians.”
But he doesn’t see the NDP or Greens as offering any reasonable alternative.
During the past two years, Ranta said he also has been involved in a number of discussions within Maple Ridge in regard to dealing with climate change – including transportation and building codes.
Ranta said he is hoping Canadians realize that we need to re-establish our ability to deal with long-term and emerging challenges.
“Canada used to be considered a world leader in social services, technology, and health care. Now we can’t even make our own vaccines. There’s an urgent need to mobilize for a sustainable future that doesn’t keep destroying the environment.” Ranta said.
Ranta grew up in Maple Ridge, and worked for 30 years as a teacher in South Peace, Maple Ridge, and Surrey.
Ranta was active in his teacher’s union, and has been a member of the Maple Ridge heritage commission, Extinction Rebellion, and the Maple Ridge Climate Hub.
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