Born in the Kootenays, Patrick first arrived in New Westminster in the late 80s, attracted like so many others by affordable rent and easy Skytrain access.

After many years of schooling, and quite a bit of travelling around, he and his partner Antigone returned to New West in the early 2000s because of transit access, local amenities, and the increasing livability of the city. When making the final decision to sign their first mortgage together, Antigone remembers a warning (promise?) Patrick made: “You know this means I am going to get involved in the community, right?”

Patrick started volunteering locally, joining the board of the Royal City Curling Club,  and getting heavily involved in the New Westminster Environmental Partners, always striving to keep sustainability and an environmental focus in conversations about the future of the city. He volunteered with community groups from the Royal City Farmers Market to the Brow of the Hill Residents’ Association and New West Pride. For several years Patrick led conversations on issues facing our community through his blog New Westminster, In My Back Yard (now archived on this website) and often-lively conversations as @NWimby on Twitter (now tweeting at @PJNewWest).

For his community-building efforts, Patrick was selected as a 2012 NextUp recipient, and was honoured to be named 2013 New Westminster Citizen of the Year. Election as a City Councillor in the New Westminster followed in 2014, and he was elected Mayor in 2022. It all seemed to make sense at the time.

This website is meant to be a forum – a continuation of the conversation that has been going on since Patrick and Antigone signed that mortgage a decade ago. Everything here is the opinion of the author – not official communications of the City of New Westminster, or Mayor and Council.