March was a busy month, even with a big Spring Break in the middle. here are a few things that kept me busy in March outside of the regular Council schedule:
March 3rd is Bulgarian Independence Day, and I was joined by Senator Yonah Martin and member of the local Bulgarian Community in raising the Bulgarian flag at Friendship Gardens.I went to Victoria to take advocacy topics to Minister and our local MLAs. A highlight was lunch with my friend and new Minister of Health Josie Osborne, where we had lots of time to talk about the New West Crises Response Pilot, about partnerships with Fraser Health, and about our shared love for Local Government (Josie was a popular Mayor in Tofino prior to getting pulled into the Provincial circus.Toured the Urban Impact recycling facility in the Braid industrial area, and learned about not just their business but the regional recycling system and global politics of the recycled material market.I also joined members of the Chamber of Commerce at the “topping out” ceremony for the new residential tower in Uptown – more than 300 new rental homes and new commercial spaces in the first new building in the Upton in more than a decade.Attended the New Westminster Police Department annual Mess Dinner, the first with Tasha Henderson as Chair, and Paul Hyland as Chief. The Mess Dinner is a fun event – equal parts honoring the roles and sacrifice of policing and a fair amount of good-natured roasting of colleagues, with neither members nor leadership spared.I attended the annual HUB Cycling awards. After winning last year, New West was not nominated for any specific award in 2025, but it was great to see the work other organizations and municipalities (especially Port Moody!) were doing in getting safer infrastructure built.The annual Volunteer Appreciation Lunch at Century House celebrates the many hands that work together to lift the community and bring it together through the many programs and activities Century House provides.The first annual Ethiopian Coffee Festival at Douglas College was a fun was a fun way to get caffeinated and learn about the history of coffee and Ethiopian coffee culture. Local organized Bereket Kebede was instrumental in getting this event to New West, and brought hundreds of industry leaders and coffee aficionados together.Along with several members of New West and Burnaby Councils I attended a rally led by Movement to call for secure funding for Public Transit, and spoke for the need for all of us (especially the Mayors and the Provincial Government) to work together and commit to investing now in making this vital system thrive, not just survive.Just as the Royal City Curling Club season ends (see above), The New West Farmers Market season kicked off on a beautiful rain-free spring day, and the turnout was great!
