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Pitt Meadows has no appetite to amalgamate with Maple Ridge, says mayor

New Angus Reid poll says half of Metro respondents support ‘more consolidated approach’
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Mayor says the City of Pitt Meadows would not want to amalgamate with Maple Ridge. (Neil Corbett/The News)

Despite the suggestion from Angus Reid pollsters, Pitt Meadows has no desire to amalgamate with Maple Ridge, said new Pitt Meadows mayor Nicole MacDonald.

The non-profit research institute recently conducted a poll in Metro Vancouver about the issue of amalgamating municipalities, saying it found “many citizens hoping for a future with a more consolidated approach to regional politics.”

“Overall, half of Metro Vancouverites support amalgamation of some sort,” said a press release issued Monday.

“The proposals receiving the highest levels of enthusiasm across the Metro region are those that would combine the Tri-Cities (35%), the North Shore (34%), or Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge (31%). In the North Shore itself, half (48%) say they support North Vancouver and West Vancouver coming together as one city.”

Eight per cent of respondents say they would combine all Metro Vancouver municipalities into one, while three-in-ten say the current system is fine, Angus Reid reports.

The report notes Toronto and Montreal have centralized civic governments, and the province of Ontario forced the merger of six municipalities into Toronto in 1998.

MacDonald said a poll of Pitt Meadows residents would show a strong majority do not want to amalgamate with Maple Ridge, or any other city.

“The identity and uniqueness of Pitt Meadows is held very dear to many people in Pitt Meadows,” she said. “There’s a lot of pride.”

She noted that over the past two terms of councils, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows have moved away from a former partnership in providing recreation and culture, and decided to have separate RCMP detachments, rather than the joint Ridge Meadows detachment serving both cities.

“We’re finding that our needs are different,” said MacDonald.

READ ALSO: Pitt Meadows councillors approve RCMP building design

The new mayor expanded on that, saying her city is about 80 per cent farmland, and has limited opportunities for future residential development. That is a contrast with Maple Ridge, which is fast growing, and more urban.

“We’re unique and distinct communities,” said MacDonald.

However, she said it is important the two cities work closely together on their common interests, such as transporation, and noted she has already had conversations with new Maple Ridge Mayor Dan Ruimy.

“There’s lots to do regionally. We respect each other, and have to work together,” she said.

Amalgamation is not an issue MacDonald expects the city to be dealing with, as her council starts a new term.

“It’s not on the radar of this council at all.”

Angus Reid conducted an online survey from Oct. 6-12, which was a random sample of 1,376 members of the Angus Reid Forum. Four per cent of respondents were from Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows.

READ ALSO: Poll finds support for merging Metro municipalities


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Neil Corbett

About the Author: Neil Corbett

I have been a journalist for more than 30 years, the past decade with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.
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