Ugh, it is hard to think about the dull procedure of a City Council Meeting on a week like this when the province is grieving an unimaginable tragedy. But we had a meeting on Monday with a lengthy Agenda, and here is the report.
The following items were approved On Consent:
Construction Noise Bylaw Exemption Request: 808 Royal Avenue (Douglas College Student Housing Project)
The student housing project at 8th and Royal needs to do concrete floor finishing, and some of that work needs to happen outside of construction hours, so we are permitting this (with appropriate notice to neighbours).
Council Strategic Priorities Plan – First Semi-Annual Report for 2026
City Council approved a Strategic Plan for the term back in early 2023, and this report outlines progress towards the goals of that plan. Overall, it is good news, especially considering the curve balls thrown at Council regarding new housing legislation that have eaten up a tonne of staff time (fortunately, offset somewhat by our successful Housing Accelerator Fund grants)
This report is presented as a “traffic light” model, with five priority areas and 71 objectives where a green flag means complete or satisfactory progress made, yellow means “not quite there” and red indicates there are still barriers to completion. The two red areas are completion of a Natural assets Management Plan and Culture Change in Transportation:
Overall a good report and demonstrates that staff got a lot done this term towards the strategic priorities set out for them. We have 6 months to move a few more of those yellows toward green.
Heritage Revitalization Agreement and Heritage Designation: 1121 Eighth Avenue – Bylaws for First and Second Readings
The owner of a small West End house built in 1909 want to build three more homes (one stand-alone, one duplex) on the largish lot, and preserve the exiting house through heritage designation. The lot is single family zoned, and this project will be higher FSR than permitted under current zoning which is why the HRA is being used. However the project is consistent with both the current OCP and the anticipated 2026 changes to the OSP, as the lot is designated for this type of infill.
This proposal would go to Public Hearing, so I’ll hold my comments until then.
Kelly O’ Bryan’s, 800 Columbia Street – Application for Patron Participation Entertainment Endorsement
This pub and restaurant downtown wishes to have more fun while operating under their food primary licence – things like dancing, DJs, Karaoke, etc. that constitute “patron participation”. This requires a change in their Provincial Liquor Licence, which we must also approve. They jumped through the appropriate hoops and did a public notice (perhaps surprisingly, some members of the public wrote us to oppose this change). Our provincial liquor laws continue to be archaic and waste a lot of people’s time, as Council approved this change.
Next Generation 9-1-1 Base Funding 2026 Grant Application to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities
Next Generation 911 is a pretty fundamental change in how emergency communications happen in the province, going from land-line based to Internet Protocol (“IP”). This will be good for emergency comms in the long term, but it means massive changes in physical technology and software, for which Local Governments are largely responsible. There are, however, grants available from the Province (administered through UBCM) to help us with costs, and we are applying for one.
Response to Council Motion: Provincial Regulation of Electric Kick Scooters
Several months ago, Councillor Henderson brought a motion calling for action here in the City and advocacy to the Provincial Government for better regulation of e-mobility devices, especially electric kick scooters. This report includes a Resolution for the Lower Mainland Local Government Association so we can take that advocacy to the Province through UBCM.
The following items were Removed from Consent for discussion:
Budget 2026: Consolidated 2026 – 2030 Five-Year Financial Plan
What we colloquially call the budget is actually delivered as a comprehensive 5-year financial plan that covers both our operational and capital budgets, both for “Utilities” (water, sewer, solid waste, and electrical) and the “General Fund” (everything else). This includes a $220 Million capital budget (over the 5 years) and a balanced (as required by law) operational budget over the same term.
This is (nearing) the end of a long process, with a half dozen open meetings and workshops where operational budgets were reviewed department-by-department and the 450+ line capital budget was reviewed. Our budgeting process in New West is the most transparent in the region, because it is important the community has the opportunity to understand the compromises, priorities, and decisions that go into the budget. Though there were a LOT of reports that went into this, the two major components are the Capital Budget (reviewed comprehensively in a draft form at the November 10 workshop here) and the Operational Budget (reviewed comprehensively in a draft form at the December 8 workshop here. There is a lot in here, and I hope to have time to write up some more detail about the budget in follow up posts.
This budget sets us up to support the very things our community has asked us to deliver – the things our community continues to ask us to deliver. Folks in this community know, and they tell us repeatedly, that well-funded core public services are what make New Westminster one of the most livable cities in Canada, and appreciate that we provide them here while remaining the most affordable City in the Lower Mainland. This budget delivers a 6% increase in Public Safety spending, a 10% increase in spending on Community Services, and 0% increase in corporate and planning services. We are investing where people can see the benefit in their day to day lives. and are saving where it makes sense.
At the Love New West event last weekend, so many people came to me and thanked the City for investing in public services and in supporting the organizations in the community that make us shine, instead of following the path of drastic cuts they see in Vancouver, and some other cities. More to come on this!
Cannabis Store Relocation Request – North Root Cannabis Ltd. (Update) and Next Steps for Zoning Amendment Bylaw (416 East Columbia) No.8520, 2025
Back when the City set up its regulations around Cannabis Retail, there was a bit of a Gold Rush feeling – lots of people wanted into this new business, and it was hard for governments to keep up or even understand the unintended consequences of the boom and inevitable bust. New West was pretty middle-of-the-road in managing this, not as rapid as some cities in permitting, not as conservative as some in resisting all cannabis businesses. Our process permitted one in each “commercial area”, and we had an arms-length applicant screen-and-approval process. In that sense, we approved both locations and business operators. In most locations this worked fine, but in Sapperton the approved operator ran into trouble with the approved location, and it has been a hard road for them to get past that, despite clearly good intention. At this point, the applicant was not able to secure a second lease and provide the (City and Provincial) licensing requirements, and their application is cancelled, and they will be refunded a portion of their fees, consistent with our Development Permit policies.
This decision, however, was what to do with the Bylaw impact on the first approved property. There were some questions raised at Council around this change, and the recommendation from staff did not look well supported, so the decision by Council was to defer decision-making until next meeting to give Council a chance to confer with Staff if needed and clarify the implications of the proposed change.
Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Plan Project – Phase Two
During the summer of 2025, the City was awarded a Federal Grant of $105,000 (one of the largest grants given out nation-wide under this FCM program) to fund the development of a new Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Plan. With Phase 2 of that work completed, this is a check-in with council before staff move on to Phase 3, which will include some public consultation.
This work is different than the other “climate work” we are doing to reduce corporate and community greenhouse gasses (“Mitigation” work), this is “Adaptation”, which is about understanding what the risks and impacts of climate change are in our community, and to prepare for those impacts best we can. This report includes a risk register that rates exposure to specific risks (e.g riverine flood, heat domes, drought), including taking into consideration the work the City is already doing to mitigate or adapt to these risks.
Construction Noise Bylaw Variance Request: 602 Agnes Street (BC Housing Project)
The affordable housing project at 6th and Agnes needs to do water system tie-ins, and some of that work needs to happen outside of construction hours, so we are permitting this (with appropriate notice to neighbours)
Financial Statements Audit Planning Report for the year ending December 31, 2025
Every year we hire an Auditor to go through our books and analyze our controls internally to assure that money is being responsibly (and legally!) managed. This is where they tell us what they plan to do, and staff ask Council to agree with the audit plan.
We then had a Report from Council:
Participation at the Strong Cities’ Sixth Global Summit: December 9-11,2025
Councillor Nakagawa was a presented at the conference on the invite of Public Safety Canada, who also sponsored her participation. As per our new out-of-Province travel policy, this is Councillor Nakagawa’s report on her participation and costs.
Then we had a Motion from Council:
Developing a City-Wide AI Policy
Submitted by Councillor Henderson
WHEREAS there has been a sharp increase in the availability and accessibility of AI technologies; and
WHEREAS many organizations including local governments are increasingly using AI tools to support their work; and
WHEREAS the data centres that power AI technologies have a significant environmental impact related to massive energy consumption, high water use, and air and noise pollution; and
WHEREAS significant legal and ethical issues related to the rapid adoption of AI tools have been raised, including but not limited to algorithmic transparency and related liability, cybersecurity and privacy vulnerabilities, bias and discrimination, intellectual property, and impacts on workers;
BE IT RESOLVED that staff develop a city-wide AI policy that provides clarity and direction for staff members and transparency to the public around appropriate use of AI technologies.
This is a timely request for something that cities are generally not good at – addressing emergent technology change. There is no doubt the AI bubble is at the centre of much innovation and venture capital today, and we are only beginning to understand the long-term implications. However, as a City serving the public interest, it is a good idea to be careful about how this rapid change is integrated into our operations. It’s not about resisting good tech, it’s about using it in mindful ways that align with our values and our community, and being transparent to the community about how it is being used (if it is)