Dear Editor,

[RE: Katzie ‘will not be standing down,’ oppose riverfront subdivision, June 25, The News]

I will take the chief of the Katzie’s bluster about not standing down to that riverside subdivision with a grain of salt, because she apparently is wanting to have her cake and eat it, too.

First off, all municipalities to a large extent rubber stamp projects that developers want whether or not they should.

So Maple Ridge making the bone-head decision to put a subdivision in that spot is not surprising and will be a disaster waiting to happen at some point in the future.

But her stance brings up a sore point I have with how First Nation bands feel entitled to comment on decisions not on their own land – by municipal governments, provincial, or federal governments for that matter – but refuse to allow any oversight or restrictions placed on their activities.

If the chief of the Katzie wants my respect, then would she consider allowing inspection of that massive dump of soil on the reserve, right beside the Katzie Slough, to find out if any of that soil and other debris dumped there contains hazardous materials?

And as no developer would dare think of doing work without providing barriers to prevent runoff into neighbouring streams or other waterways, will she allow Department of Fisheries to assess if the Katzie are following the same environmental rules as everyone else and protecting the Katzie Slough?

No, I don’t think so.

RELATED: Maple Ridge council approves controversial riverfront subdivision

I have turned cold on reconciliation, which isn’t a secret.

The chief feeling that she can influence something done on private land, but the reserve must be respected and allowed to do what it wants without rebuke. That certainly doesn’t make me anymore likely to support reconciliation in the future.

While this topic is not one that people want to deal with, it should be dealt with and a level playing field established.

Robert T. Rock, Mission

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