Peter Tam wants to get Maple Ridge talking trash.
Tam, the Green party candidate for Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge in the federal elections of 2015 and 2011, said the present system of privatized garbage pickup is obviously inefficient.
He's trying to create a desire for change through social media, and he believes the city should provide curbside garbage collection.
"Where I live in Silver Valley, we're seeing five or six garbage trucks all doing the same thing on a weekly basis," Tam said.
With the need to manage of a more complex waste stream, for a growing city, city hall needs to take the reins, he said.
"We need to talk about waste management, to make it more efficient to managing compost, food waste, solid waste and recycling," he said. "Other cities have more effective systems."
Tam has an online petition at the website Change.org titled "Maple Ridge needs garbage collection." As of Wednesday afternoon, it had 128 supporters.
"We pay just as much in taxes as compared with neighbouring communities with garbage pick-up ... I wonder about the city's money management," said April Hunt on the page.
"Need to get Maple Ridge out of the Dark Ages and start providing garbage pickup to everyone. Will lead to less illegal dumping, less polluting garbage trucks, better processing of garbage," wrote Colin Knight. "Also need free large-item pickup to again stop illegal dumping."
Tam doubts it would cost more than was private business is charging to both provide the service and turn a profit.
"There really is no reason it would increase in cost dramatically," he said.
Mayor Nicole Read said council is going to consider the financial numbers, which will soon be on a council agenda.
"Staff are working on it," she said. "It's a really tricky proposition."
She said the public is "very divided" over the issue, and council may ultimately want to put the issue to referendum. It could be on the ballot in the next election.
"It needs to be a decision that's made by the public," said Read.
Tam did not like the idea of putting the idea to public ballot, pointing out the recent Brexit referendum that has resulted in the U.K. leaving the European Union.
He predicts voters could be swayed by private garbage pickup supporters claiming taxes will rise.
This is council's decision, he said, and it could be made after public town hall meetings.
"Sometimes in referendums the wording doesn't put the right message across, or ask the right question," said Tam.
"I don't agree with a referendum for something like this."
Council candidate Liza Taylor tried a similar petition last summer. Her concerns over the safety of wildlife, such as bears that were being attracted to garbage and shot, motivated her to ask for a more efficient system. She said the rat problem in Maple Ridge could also be controlled through better handling of waste.
Her petition failed to make a difference.
"We've still got big trucks coming down the street all day long," she said. "It's surprising that for a city this size we don't have a system. "But you'll never get it past Gordy (Robson) or Craig (Speirs)," she said of the two city councillors who have traditionally supported privatized service.
"Maple Ridge is a city that doesn't know how to be more than a small town," Taylor added.
Speirs, who drops of his trash at the transfer station himself, has advocated competition between the hauling companies to create a cost-effective system, with council regulating the number of days when pickup can take place.
“One thing for sure, if we go down this route, we’ll own the complaints and we’ll own the problems,” said Speirs.