Another Monday night special edition! Our Council meeting was a fairly quick one, with significantly more time spent on Public Delegations than the business of the City. The Agenda was actually quite short, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t consequential. We started by approving the following items On Consent:

Appointment of Financial Officer
We have a new Chief Financial Officer starting, and as this is one of those “officer” jobs that has defined duties under the Community Charter, and though they are hired by the CAO, they must be appointed to those specific duties by Council. This is that motion to do so.

Extension of Programs to Serve Isolated Seniors Funded by the United Way
The City has successfully applied for grant funding from the Untied Way to support three programs to help older adults in the community stay healthy and connected. This follows on the successful application last year that resulted in $245,000 being invested locally for Social Meals at community centers, Seniors Community Connectors, and Volunteer Coordinator programs in the City. The new funding ($470,000) will support continuation of these programs for two more years. This is good news for seniors in need in our community.

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The following items were Removed from Consent for discussion:

2026 Tax Rate Bylaw No. 8576, 2026
Section 165 of the Community Charter, requires municipalities to adopt the Financial Plan Bylaw (Which we did on February 23), and Section 197 of the Community Charter requires municipalities to adopt the Tax Rate Bylaw before May 15th of each year. After 6 months of meetings on the Budget – more than a dozen open Council meetings and workshops (the most transparent budgeting process of any local government in BC), we need to set the tax rates based on the change of property values presented by the BC Assessment Authority. This is a motion that falls under the category of “Fiduciary Duties”, so voting against this after 6 months of having no creative solutions to make this result different is an example of performative politics, not leadership.

Many people still don’t understand how the amount of property tax they pay relates to their property value. Though taxes are based on property value, the amount you pay depends on your property value relative to the other properties in the city. This year assessments City-wide went down a bit (3.1%), though your personal experience may vary. Here is a post I wrote about this a few years ago, the numbers are different this year, but the process is the same.

Procedural Information – Business Regulations and Licensing (Rental Units) Amendment Bylaw No. 8556
Back in March, we passed first three readings of our new Business Licence Bylaw amendments to regulate maximum temperatures in rental apartments. As part of the process of moving to adoption of those bylaws, we consulted with the Medical Health Officer at Fraser Health on the specific language of the Bylaw (we had consulted with Public Health and received endorsement of the bylaw as a concept earlier, this is more a specific language check it). The recommendation is to expand the Bylaw somewhat to be in effect for an extra month, and some minor language changes that don’t impact the Bylaw in operation. We are making those changes (which requires rescinding earlier readings and moving reading of the amended bylaw). There were some further recommendations that would require somewhat more work to adopt, so Council moved to refer these recommendations back to staff to consider the implications prior to Council considering adding them to the Bylaw.

Update to the 2026 General Local Elections Plan
Our New Elections Officer is making some recommendations on how to change how the election operates in the fall. With more advance polling opportunities, they are recommending reducing the number of locations on election day to13, and re-allocating staff to the remaining 13 to make it more efficient. Council didn’t think this was a good look, or at least didn’t have the data to support reducing the number of stations, so voted to keep the number as is.

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And we had one item of New Business:

Rezoning Application: 140 Sixth Street (Royal Towers) – Amenity Framework
The Royal Towers is a long-standing project of concern in the City, a building that is past its useful life, falling apart as we watch, but is also providing (unsecured) affordable rental housing to more than 100 people. I mean unsecured, because there is no guarantee that those units will remain rented, and their rents are not controlled, but because of the nature and age of the building, they represent the lower end of market rents in the City. There is a desire to replace the aging Royal Towers with new buildings, but we also do not want to displace the people living in them and add to the homelessness crisis.

Here is the deal the owner of the property is trying to make work: Build a new building where the parkade currently sits and secure this as non-market affordable housing. Allow the people living in the current building first right of refusal on that new affordable housing at below-market rates similar to what they currently pay. No-one gets made homeless. Also build a second building to the west of similar sizer and scale that is purpose-built but market rental. Then knock down the old Towers building and build market condos with a couple of floors of commercial (retail/office at grade to pay for it all. The City get housing, the current residents are protected. Win-win.

A small problem is that the changes the Province instituted in how Cities negotiate amenities mean this project simply cannot move forward after June 30th. We need to approve that by then before the new rules kick in, or the City is required to collect ACC charges, the financial benefit that funds the affordable housing component goes away, and to put a finer point on it our ability as a City to demand the relocation of affordable housing goes away. Bill 46 folks.

Staff have been working with the owner of the property to save this project, and in this report we set out the amenity conditions that will define the deal between the owner and the City that Council will need to consider before June 30th. This is not final approval of the project; there is a *lot* more to the rezoning application than just this amenity deal (use of commercial space, DCC charges, design and density, etc.) but putting the amenity deal down on paper allows the owner and city staff to agree on a set of economic fundamentals that will make the project viable or not, and to inform the Bylaws Council will eventually have to approve or not.

This week was our semi-annual (Biannual? Two times a year?) migration to Queensborough Community Centre for a Council meeting that crosses the gap. We had a fairly short Agenda that started (after a half dozen public delegations) with a Presentation:

təməsew̓txʷ Aquatic and Community Centre Project Close-Out Report
This report ends the Capital project phase of the construction of təməsew̓txʷ, the largest single capital project in the City’s history. The community centre has been open for two years now, but the capital project didn’t end at opening as there was significant fitting out, working with the project delivery team to button up deficiencies and training on operational details. It also allowed a full year of operational evaluation after the initial launch and buffer time when operations and public use patterns were being established. We now are into standard operations for the next 50+ years, so a good time to provide a full reporting out.

The big headline news is that the building was very close to being completed on time (a few months late due to extra time needed for geotechnical work one the excavation started), and actually came home slightly under budget (We budgeted $114M, spent just under $113M). These are remarkable feats considering the context of the procurement occurring during the early days of COVID, and construction occurring through challenging geotechnical conditions, a regional concrete strike, supply chain disruptions and massive construction inflation related to COVID and the realignment of global trade. There is also some significant comfort in knowing that waiting out COVID uncertainties and starting the project a year later would have near doubled project costs, as we are seeing in other similar-scaled recreation projects across the Lower Mainland right now.

The project has won numerous awards, provincially, nationally, and internationally, and though the global architecture prize got the most media, it is the dozens of awards for design, function, accessibility and environmental performance that are most exciting – the building is being noted regionally and across the country for how it delivers service, how the vision of a “community meeting place” worked out, how accessible the various functions of the building are, and how being the first Zero Carbon certified aquatic centre in Canada not only saves the City a tonne of operational money and reduces GHG emissions over the long term, but how this building helped develop the guidelines for Zero Carobn community centres across the country moving forward – New Westminster lifted the bar for environmental performance nationally with this building.

Meanwhile, the centre is serving three times the number of people as the combined facilities it replaced, with more than 1 million visits in the last year, and surveys of the visiting public are overwhelmingly positive. The operational capacity of the pools are much higher than the single pool they replaced, and community space more than double that of the Centennial Community Centre. Looking back at the feasibility of the pool that was developed in 2017, təməsew̓txʷ meets and exceeds every expectation. There were some challenges and learnings along the way, and the massive popularity of the facility means we are still dealing with some issues mostly related to unanticipated usage levels (partly related to Burnaby projects being delayed!) but “too many people” is the best problem to have when you open something new.

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The following items were approved On Consent:

Application to Federation of Canadian Municipalities Green Municipal Fund: Urban Forestry Plans and Studies
We had a delegate come to speak about how they appreciated the investment the City is making in new trees and biodiversity, and I tend to agree, but want to note that we have been really successful at getting Federal Government grants for much of this work – well over $2 Million already. This is a report outlining an application we are making to Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) Green Municipal Fund to support further work in this area.

Appointment of Interim Corporate Officer
The Corporate Officer is one of those jobs that has legislative responsibilities, and must be appointed by Council, there are some staff changes going on and we are appointing the Assistant Corporate Officer serve in an Interim role.

Community Advisory Assembly Updates and Recommendations on the Future Role of Libraries
This is a reporting back from the Community Advisory assembly on how the community views the roles of libraries in the present and future. After deliberating, they reported out to the Library Board, and are now reporting to Council.

This was an interesting discussion, as we all acknowledge Libraries are more than just book repositories, and serve a variety of functions in the community. However, the question for the Assembly is how the community (as opposed to the Library Staff, Board, or City) see that evolving role. This is especially timely as the Library is undergoing a Facilities Master Plan right now (see details and survey results here, and there has been increasing discussion of how to make new public spaces available in the Downtown along with realignment of the existing downtown community spaces, and a Downtown Library Branch is part of that discussion.

There are recommendations here worth reading if you are interested in Libraries! And who isn’t?

Issuance of Development Variance Permit for 430 Ninth Street
There is a 29-unit apartment building near Moody Park that is undergoing significant renovation from the envelope in. They propose to replace some redundant parking spaces with a couple more apartments, and as this would mean their parking is short of zoning requirements, they are willing to enter a Housing Agreement with the City to secure rental tenure for all 31 apartments. The requirement is for 19 spaces, and they will have 16 – variance of three parking spaces means 2 more homes, and secure housing for 31 families, which seems like a pretty good balance.

Retail Strategy Implementation: Active Streets Initiative – Bylaw for First, Second and Third Readings
There has been some work over the last year around The Dentist Issue. That’s a bit of a tongue-in-cheek reference to public concern that every new retail space is seeming to host a dentist office. There are a bunch of microeconomic reason for this, and cities always have to be cautious when wading into restricting specific business types, but recognizing that business supports business and vibrant streets mean a mix of business types that make streets interesting, and that there are lots of opportunities on second stories and above for medical and services, staff have put together some policies to encourage more active space use at grade in business areas. This is codified in the City through zoning bylaws, which can limit the types of activities that take place within retail spaces. It also allows business owners to apply for rezoning to allow a different use, but it definitely discourages dentists in every spot.

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The following items were Removed from Consent for discussion:

Development Permit Area Guidelines Update: Official Community Plan Amendment Consultation Requirements
The City is working on some Development Permit Guidelines to include in our Official Community Plan after the updates we undertook to comply with Provincial Housing Legislation. When we update the OCP, we have a legislative requirement to consult with many organizations outside of the city. This report reviews the organizations that we plan to consult with to meet the requirements of the Local Government Act. This follows up on the previous reports we have had at Council on these guidelines.

Development Variance Permit for 800 Queens Avenue (Simcoe Elementary): Update Report (DVP00745)
We are working with the School District to get approvals in place for the as-yet-unnamed new school at Simcoe Park, required to meet the need for elementary school spaces in the Downtown and Brow of the Hill. A Development Variance Permit is required because the height and density of the new school exceeds the zoning for the site. That might sound a bit bureaucratic, but the City is a regulator of land use, and needs to assure that the construction won’t too-negatively impact neighboring properties, that we can manage the sewer, water, electrical, and roadway needs of the project (which all increase with increased size), and the DVP is the tool we use to assure that the design is workable.

In recognizing that the construction phase will directly impact City-owned lands (they will be staging on City lands) and the planned land use will impact various aspects of how Simcoe Park works, Council also has a fiduciary duty to put constraints around that use of public lands and assets, and assure that impacts on City-owned lands is understood, and that agreements are in place around conditions of use and how property will be returned to the City after use. We are working with the School District to develop Letters of Commitment and are framing a Joint Use Agreement to more formally recognize City lands used by the school, and opportunities for City/Community use of School spaces. This is perhaps more complicated than it needs to be because there are multiple governments involved (City Engineering and Parks, School District, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Infrastructure), but all are agreed that the goal here is to get the DVP approved and ground broken on the School Site in June!

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We then wrapped up the evening with the following Bylaws for Adoption:

Housing Agreement Bylaw (430 Ninth Street) No. 8532, 2026
This Bylaw that secures rental tenure for 60 years for the building at 430 Ninth Street was adopted by Council.

Sign Bylaw No. 7867, 2017, Amendment Bylaw No. 8577, 2026
This Bylaw that shifts the language in the Sign Bylaw to align the start of when election signs can go up with the start of the Campaign Period as designated by Elections BC was adopted by Council.

Elections Procedures Bylaw No. 7985, 2018, Amendment Bylaw No. 8579, 2026
This Bylaw that outlines the rest of the election procedures for the Local Government election on October 17 was adopted by Council. We are off to the races!

This week’s Council meeting was relatively short one, with a shortish Agenda that started with a less-common-these-days Public Hearing:

Heritage Revitalization Agreement (1121 Eighth Avenue) Bylaw No.8550, 2026
Heritage Designation (1121 Eighth Avenue) Bylaw No. 8551, 2026
The owner of this property in the Moody Park neighbourhood want to build a new house and a duplex on this lot while also granting permanent protection to the heritage home on the lot. A Heritage Revitalization Agreement is the tool to do this, it works similarly to a rezoning, with the heritage preservation as the “community benefit”. Unlike most residential rezoning in the City where public hearings are forbidden by Provincial regulation, an HRA requires a public hearing, despite the compliance with the Official Community Plan.

The 1909 house on the site would be permanently preserved and restored, a new 1,500sqft detached house would be build beside it, and a new 3,600sqft duplex would be built on the back of the lot, facing the alley. This mean 4 homes where three are currently permitted (though the City is working on a response ot the new provincial housing regulations that would permit up to six units on this property). This property will have an FSR of just under 1.0, and the new housing regulation would permit up to 1.0. The model here is to stratify the four units.

We received no correspondence and no-one spoke to the Public Hearing. Council voted unanimously on third reading of the Bylaws.

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We then approved the following items On Consent:

Appointment of Acting Financial Officer
Our CFO has taken another job, and this is one job that Council has to officially appoint as it is a “statutory position”, meaning they have legislative responsibilities under the community charter, so we are appointing the Senior Manager of Financial Services as the interim while HR does the work of getting a CFO hired.

Housing Agreement Bylaw and Development Variance Permit to Vary Residential Parking Requirements: 430 Ninth Street – Bylaw for Three Readings
This 29-unit rental building in the Moody Park neighbourhood is going through a significant renovation of the envelope, windows, accessibility and including mechanical cooling (!), and they want to also include the addition of a couple of suites, to raise the number to 31, and remove a couple of parking stall that mean they will have 3 fewer than required by zoning, therefore requiring a Development Variance Permit. In exchange they will sign a housing agreement guaranteeing rental tenure for 60 years or the life of the building (whichever is longer).

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Then we addressed these items that were Removed from Consent for discussion:

Official Community Plan Amendment and Rezoning Application: 807-823 Sangster Place and 39 E Eighth Avenue – Application Update
This application is a bit of an unusual one, and led to a bit of discussion at Council, as it is not common for Staff to bring a project to Council while also recommending against its approval. However, there are various overlapping issues here that required some time for Council to unpack. The proponent however communicated with Council and requested that we defer decision making until next meeting so they could get some stuff sorted out, and Council voted to defer.

Our City, Our Homes: Implementation of Transit Oriented Development Area Extensions and Regional Planning
The City recently adopted its response to the Transit Oriented Development regulation of the Province from Bill 47, but for technical reasons related to other decisions the City has to make about townhouses and infill density, we did not include the “edge cases” of the circles drawn by the provincial mandate of 800m from a SkyTrain Station. The circle-on-a-map process means there are many blocks where part of the block is under TOD (permitting up to 8 storeys) and parts are not. Through some public consultation, staff have identified 104 properties that are “on the edge” that they recommend be included in the TOD areas, to “square the circle” so it fits into the context of existing neighbourhoods.

There are also some changes here to the statement about how our OCP aligns with the Regional Growth Strategy and adoption of some climate action into the OCP. This is first and second reading, and these changes to the OCP will go to a Public Hearing, so I won’t comment too much more until that process occurs.

The New Westminster Age-Friendly Strategy
I recently attended an event at Century House where Alison from the Senior Services Society and Dan Levitt the provincial Seniors Advocate spoke about the challenges facing many older adults in our community, from housing precarity to the lack of senior government supports to make aging in place an option for more people. This is an increasing concern as the “baby boom” generation journeys though older age, and as austerity governments resist investing in the supports this growing community needs.

The City got a grant in 2024 to update our Age Friendly community policy, and here it is. There are 59 recommended actions in here, and one of the first ones is to appoint a community working group – a task force of Older Adults from the community to oversee and prioritize the implementation – which I see as a key to making this work. And though I appreciate the 28 people who helped put this together, I think the implementation working group could be smaller and centre the older adults in the community.

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We then had a single Motion from Council:

Queensborough School Bus Program
Submitted by Councillor Minhas

WHEREAS over 230 Queensborough based students and their families rely on the Queensborough bus service to enable students to attend New Westminster Secondary School in a safe, secure and timely manner, without which journeys take three times as long and students are often passed over by overcrowded buses causing them to arrive late or not at all; and
WHEREAS a pilot service launched in January 2024 at cost to parents is slated to end on June 30, 2026 despite a campaign promise made on October 8, 2024 that if the NDP government were re-elected, this service would be made ‘permanent and free’; and
WHEREAS New Westminster is the second most dense city in Canada, with only one high school, and the acceptance of this density should have already unlocked new funding from senior orders of government;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Mayor be requested to write to our three government and opposition MLAs asking they advocate to secure the necessary provincial funding to ensure the Queensborough school bus program becomes ‘free and permanent’ as previously promised; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Mayor write to the Minister of Education and Child Care requesting that additional funding be granted to School District 40 for the Queensborough school bus service to continue and be made permanent (beyond June 30,2026) and without cost to local families until such time as a new high school is built in the Queensborough community.

Advocacy for this service has been consistent and relentless since the previous dedicated transit service was cut in 2013, and thought the School District was able to secure support for the pilot project, in my mind, you run a pilot to determine if a project works and has community support. It is clear after two years that the students and families of Queensborough support this program, and it’s time for the province to step up and make the bus service sustainable. I have a meeting booked in early April with Minister Beare, and along with discussion of future school sites and advocacy for seamless childcare support in the community, the bus issue is on the agenda.

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And we closed with a single Bylaw For Adoption

Development Cost Charge Reserve Funds Expenditure Bylaw No. 8572, 2026
This Bylaw that authorizes applying $10.5 Million from our DCC reserves to our 2026 Capital Plan was adopted by Council.

And believe it or not, we were out of there by 7:00, just like the old days.

We had a longish meeting on Monday Night, and there were a few moments of tension, and as always I recommend you watch the video for details and to get the tone of the room during some of the deliberation, instead of reading through my filter here. After a notable delegation period, our regular Agenda began with a Presentation:

BC Housing Tiny Homes Village
The City has been designated a HEART and HEARTH City by the Province. This program helps deliver programs to support both shelter for people entrenched in homelessness through “Homeless Encampment Action Response Team” funding (which is a compliment to the City’s Crises Response Pilot Project) and “Homeless Encampment Action Response Temporary Housing” which brings us this announcement of transitional housing for residents transitioning from entrenched homelessness or temporary shelter to a more supportive housing environment.

The Tiny Home Village model is one that has been successful in other communities in the province such as Duncan, where residents are given a warm, safe, insulated and secure shelter of their own (not having to share with others) while common spaces provide kitchens, washrooms, laundry, and common social and support spaces. This bridges an important gap for some folks who may want to get out of entrenched homelessness, but don’t have the life skills to move into a more traditional supportive or non-market housing situation. This site will have 30 “tiny homes,” 24/7 staff on site, and access to health services and other supports if residents need them the “wrap around support” model.

This is a program run by and funded by BC Housing, though the City is working with the Province through our Affordable Housing Reserve Fund to provide support for the site lease and for capital support (up to the limit set by our AHRF policy of $500,000). The nature of leasing space for the site also means it is a temporary program, three years with the option to extend for 3 more years. There will be a Letter of Commitment setting out community expectations of the operation, and Operations Management Plan the provider will need to abide by, and a Neighbourhood Inclusion Table to address any neighbourhood challenges. This serves as a transition both for people who need the homes, but also in the housing supply matrix, and gives time for us and the province to fund and build more supportive housing in a more permanent location.

It was not a great provincial budget last week when it comes to housing, but we are fortunate now to have 24/7 shelter and this transitional housing funded by the BC government, while two other supportive housing projects are under construction – we are getting people off of streets and into secure homes in New West, and working well with the province to make it happen.

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We then approved the following items On Consent:

Development Cost Charges Reserve Funds Expenditure Bylaw No.8572, 2026
DCCs are funds the City collects from developers to offset the cost of infrastructure related directly to “growth” – the bigger sewers, waterlines, transportation and parks projects required to accommodate the needs of a growing population. Every year we report out on how those funds were applied, this is that report.

Of the 2026 Capital Budget anticipated spend of $104 Million, we anticipate that $10.5 Million, or 10%, will be funded by DCCs.

Vulnerable Buildings Assessment Pathway One – City-Funded Cooling Assessments for Rental Buildings
Part of our response to heat emergencies and our Climate Resilience Plan, the City has identified “vulnerable buildings”, where the residents are as significant risk of harm in the event of a protracted or intense heat emergency. Staff are also leveraging the Federal/Provincial Rental Apartment Retrofit Accelerator (RARA) program to pilot assessments of 10 buildings for retrofit work to make them safer along with the existing program to make them more efficient and reduce their carbon footprint.

This is one of those unique opportunities New Westminster has to leverage our Electrical Utility and Energy Save New West program (funded by the City’s Climate Action Reserve Fund) to see senior government funds invested here in New Westminster to make buildings where lower income people live more efficient, and safer. This is one of those areas where New Westminster delivers beyond other cities in the region.

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The following items were Removed from Consent

2025 Filming Activity
This is our annual report on filming activity in the City, and the costs and revenues related to hosting filming in the community. This year the city billed about $1.2 Million to film productions, with our net revenue after expenses being about $450,000. This does not include the revenues that residents and businesses in the city receive for leasing heir homes of buildings for filming, nor does it include the millions of dollars that residents in New Westminster earn working in the film industry. Film is big business in “Hollywood North”, and New Westminster gets its share, with 9 feature films, 33 TV series, and more than a dozen other productions in 2025).

Community Grant Program Update 2025-2026
This is the annual report from our Community Grant program, where staff report out on the grants provided to the sports, arts, and social service organizations that do great work in the city – the organizations that are most in need and most valuable at a time when other levels of government ate engaged in austerity. The one thing we know for sure – every dollar we invest in community organizations through these grants is paid back 3x or 10x in services to the community, through everything from volunteers these organizations empower, to their ability to leverage sponsor ship and matching grants for these programs. This is where “investment in the community” matters most.

In 2025, the City granted just a bit over $1 Million to 68 community partners, having receive 91 applications. The City also held a one-day “Love New West” event where 2025 partners were invited to set up a booth and share their success, and ideas for next year, with each other and the general public.

In 2026, $1.4 Million was awarded to 71 community partners, from 99 applications:

On top of this, we have allocated $50,000 in community grants specifically for community activation during the World Cup (applications open now!)

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We then had several Motions from Council, three of them directly related to the upcoming Lower Mainland LGA conference:

Advancing a Vision Zero Approach to Road Safety
Submitted by Mayor Johnstone

WHEREAS injuries and deaths on BC roads have untold impacts on thousands of BC lives every year, strain local government first responder resources, and result in more than $500 Million in direct health care costs in British Columbia every year; and
WHEREAS the Province’s BC Road Safety Strategy has referenced a Vision Zero approach to road safety starting with the belief that no loss of life on our roads is acceptable and implementing a collaborative Safe System Approach to road safety relying proactive data collection and sharing as the globally recognized path to achieving Vision Zero;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the City of New Westminster submit a resolution to the Lower Mainland Local Government Association calling on UBCM to request the Province to advance its commitment to Vision Zero and further support local government partners through:
• expansion of the Vision Zero Road Safety Grant program by providing additional funding to introduce a third funding stream with a cap higher than the current $20,000 limit to fund more ambitious local government and First Nation community road safety initiatives; and
• undertaking a comprehensive review of data collected by provincial ministries and agencies in relation to motor vehicle injury and death incidents, and develop strategies for proactive data sharing between those agencies and local governments to inform local road safety improvements.

This resolution for the Lower Mainland LGA conference puts together advocacy work that road safety advocates at Vision Zero Vancouver have been asking for (the increased funding for road safety projects) and the work that the City’s Vision Zero Task Force is working on, and follows on the heels of advocacy last week in Victoria where I was able to meet with Nina Krieger the Minister of Public Safety and staff from the Ministry of Transportation to advance Vision Zero Collaboration.

Triple Net Lease Reform
Submitted by Councillor Henderson

WHEREAS triple net leases shift the responsibility for property taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs from property owners onto commercial tenants, creating financial instability and unpredictability for small and local businesses; and
WHEREAS municipalities rely on vibrant local businesses to support complete communities, economic resilience, and main street vitality, yet lack the legislative authority to regulate commercial leasing practices;
BE IT RESOLVED that the City of New Westminster submit a resolution to the Lower Mainland Local Government Association calling on the Province of BC to review and reform commercial leasing legislation, including the use of triple net leases, to improve transparency, fairness, and protections for commercial tenants, particularly small and locally owned businesses.

This resolution is a result of a lot of work Councillor Henderson has been doing in our community and with business organizations across the province to address the uncertainty and risk asymmetry that Triple Net Leases represent. Small local-serving businesses (like that run by the delegate this evening) just want transparency and predictability, and similar lease protections as residential renters benefit from in this province. The debate here was… strange, as opponents on Council seemed to spend their time arguing against things that are not included in this resolution to the point of fearmongering. They didn’t hear the delegate from earlier in the evening, nor did they, apparently, read the resolution. Fortunately, the majority of Council supported this motion, and I look forward to a great discussion at UBCM.

Enhanced Mental Health Supports Following Infant Loss
Submitted by Councillor Nakagawa

WHEREAS infant loss, including miscarriage, stillbirth, and the death of an infant can result in profound and long-lasting mental health impacts for parents and caregivers; and
WHEREAS access to timely, specialized, and trauma-informed mental health supports following infant loss varies across the province, leaving many families without adequate care during an acute period of grief;
BE IT RESOLVED that the City of New Westminster submit a resolution to the Lower Mainland Local Government Association calling on the Province of BC to ensure ongoing provincial funding for research related to pregnancy loss and bereavement care, to provide standardized education and training for health care providers on how to deliver trauma informed, evidence-based care, and to fund bereavement support programs for families who experience pregnancy loss, infant loss, embryo loss, or failed fertility and IVF treatments.

This resolution speaks for itself, and is here thanks to some powerful advocacy from folks in our community, and I look forward to us taking this to UBCM where it should be an obvious endorsement.

Memorandum of Understanding with Century House Association
Submitted by Councillor Campbell

WHEREAS Century House Association (CHA) has been a valued community partner since 1958 in assuring that Century House provides inclusive, welcoming, and relevant activities and social connection for older adults in New Westminster; and
WHEREAS early in 2020 the City and CHA completed its first Memorandum of Understanding as a basis for sustaining and enhancing this proven relationship between two trusted partners for the delivery of those services; and
WHEREAS there have been changes at the CHA and across the community since the initial MOU was completed prior to the COVID pandemic, including expansion of recreation services in the City, the launching of the City’s Friendly Seniors Strategy and the recent adoption by the CHA of a new Strategic Plan; and
WHEREAS the CHA recently sent a letter to Mayor and Council suggesting the timeliness of a review and potential update of the MOU;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT staff engage with leadership of the Century House Association to explore updating the current Memorandum of Understanding between the City and CHA with the intent to strengthen collaboration in delivering services to an increasing diverse older adult population in the City.

This is not something for Lower Mainland LGA, but a motion asking staff to do some work in producing and updated MOU with the Century House Association, the non-profit group of volunteers who partner with the City in running Century House. The association sent us a letter, and I have had a few conversations with the President and Past President about changes since COVID, since the City opened təməsew̓txʷ (and made adjustments to staffing in recreation centres) and with the pending return to Sunday Opening at Century House. It’s timely, and Council was happy to support it.

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We finished up out night with several Bylaws for Adoption:

Zoning Bylaw No. 6680, 2001, Retail Sale of Cannabis (416 East Columbia Street) Amendment Bylaw No. 8520, 2025
This Bylaw that removes cannabis sales as a permitted use from a property in Sapperton where the initial approved proponent was not able to secure a lease was adopted by Council.

Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 7925, 2017, Amendment Bylaw (Provincial Housing Legislation Integration) No. 8522, 2025
This Bylaw that Transit Oriented Development Areas in compliance with the Provinces Bill 47, integrates the City’s Interim Housing Needs Report into the OCP, and makes minor administrative changes to the OCP was adopted by Council.

Zoning Bylaw No. 6680, 2001, Amendment Bylaw (Non-Profit Housing Development, Phase 2) No. 8528, 2025
This Bylaw that allows non-profit affordable housing of up to six storeys in all Transit Oriented Development Areas without rezoning was adopted by Council.

Zoning Bylaw No. 6680, 2001, Amendment Bylaw (Land Use Designation Alignments) No. 8530, 2025
This Bylaw that makes minor administrative changes to our Zoning Bylaw was adopted by Council.

Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 7925, 2017, Amendment Bylaw (Townhouse Accelerator Initiative) No. 8547, 2025
This Bylaw that enables the development of Townhouses on approximately 900 properties across the City and allows non-profit affordable housing projects of up to six storeys to be considered without an OCP update on those same sites was adopted by Council.

Zoning Bylaw No. 6680, 2001, Amendment Bylaw (Townhouse Zoning Update) No. 8524, 2025
This Bylaw that pre-zones approximately 570 properties to speed up the approval of townhouses, and updates regulations for townhouse developments was adopted by Council.

Five-Year Financial Plan (2026-2030) Bylaw No. 8571, 2026
This Bylaw that approves our consolidated Financial Plan for 2026 through 2030 was adopted by Council.

Happy 2026. We are back at it after a bit of a break, and we go through our first agenda of the new year fairly quickly. It started with a Presentation from BC Housing:

Letter of Commitment, Operations Management Plan and Neighbourhood Inclusion Table for the Purpose Shelter at 502 Columbia Street
This presentation from BC Housing outlined the work the province and the City have been doing together to update the operational model for the temporary shelter at 502 Columbia (“Army & Navy site”). The long-awaited expansion to 24/7 service from the better-than-nothing-but-not-great model of 12- or 16-hour operation is happening. This is better for the residents who rely on shelter for housing and support, because things as basic as hygiene, meals and safe storage of possessions allow more safety and dignity to residents. It is also better for addressing some of the community concerns related to the shelter.

Along with this model shift, BC Housing is working with the City on a new model of engagement called Neighbourhood Inclusion Planning, assuring that challenges impacting the shelter and the community can be addressed before they become critical. At the center of this is a Neighbourhood Inclusion Table where operators, stakeholders, and neighbours can work together to address any concerns or issues that arise related to shelter operation. This is secured through a Letter of Commitment between BC Housing, the operator, and the City. This is a great new model that gives operators the flexibility they need to roll with the unexpected, but also creates a clear accountability path for all stakeholders. This is a great new partnership, and example of what collaboration looks like to serve folks in need, and we are also looking at expanding this model of NIT to other resources in the community operated with support from BC Housing and Fraser Health.

The shelter is not a permanent solution – everyone involved knows this. It is not a purpose-built shelter, which creates some operational challenges, and it’s permitting, lease, and funding are all temporary with clear end dates. It is, however, providing and important life-saving service as part of the continuum of housing in the community. As part of the Crises Response Pilot Project Ten-Year Supportive Housing and Wrap-Around Services Plan, we are working to build 58 purpose-built 24/7 shelter beds with support services in another location to replace this temporary service.

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We then approved the following items On Consent:

Rescission of Third Reading of Development Cost Charges Police Reserve Fund Establishment
This is the most semantic change ever- the Bylaw Number in our past three readings of this bylaw was incorrect. So we are rescinding those readings and re-reading with the proper number.

Response to Council Motion: Preserving and Enhancing Vibrant Streetscapes with Local Businesses
There has been some talk this term collected here under the title “vibrant streetscapes” having to do with the impacts of a society-level shift in retail and its impact on our commercial streets. One symptoms of this socioeconomic shift to on-line shopping, Amazon and major chains consuming most of the retail pie, and skyrocketing property values related to property speculation and an ongoing housing shortage is that people see too many dentist offices opening on commercial streets. I can’t believe I wrote that sentence, but I want to connect the symptom – the thing we see that makes us perceive something is wrong – and the complex causes. Because the City just saying “no more dentists” deals with the symptom, but we don’t know what other impacts that will have without recognizing the bigger causes (and in New west there are more than 2 Million teeth – who AM I to say how many dentists that takes?). But let’s stop talking about dentists and talk about supporting community small businesses.

Council sent some instruction to Staff back in June, and there has been some discussion since then with the Economic Development committee, along with a substantial amount of consultation with the local business community and province wide (even nation-wide) municipalities and small business support groups – and credit where due, Councillors Campbell and Henderson have been doing a tonne of work here.

The idea of restricting use of ground-level retail space by health services providers was workshopped with the business community and the ACEDAC, and staff have a proposed approach to modifying the Zoning Bylaw to balance that concern that will come to Council in an upcoming meeting.

The Retail Strategy also includes exploring tenant relocation protections for commercial tenants, this has been workshopped with the ACEDC and a draft policy will be coming to Council in the spring. The ACEDC has also been reviewing WorkBC policy and supports that can better aid small local business, and had some recommendations to improve on what WorkBc offers, so we as a Council are going to send those recommendations to the Province.

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The following item was Removed from Consent for discussion:

Ryall Park Artificial Turf Field – Feasibility Study Update
As expected, the option of Ryall Park for the next all-0weather field (which was the preferred community option through public consultation) is not the technically easiest option, and will require some geotechnical work to make viable. This report asks that Council support the moving ahead with geotechnical work (pre-loading so that soil settlement will be less of an issue after construction) can proceed in parallel with further design and development work.

There was a bit of discussion about the very-preliminary design offered by staff. It was mostly a design exercise to see what fits, but council did raise concerns regarding the design of the surrounding track (there isn’t room for a full Olympic athletics track, but we can squeeze a decent running/walking track of a few lanes in), and about options for the “phase two” area, where we haven’t really determined the best use, but notionally the idea of a basketball court or lacrosse box were raised.

The short story: we are starting pre-load, more detailed design yet to come, and there is money in the capital budget to make it all happen, it’s just a matter of execution now.

We then had a Motion from Committee:

Increasing the Canada Summer Jobs Wage Subsidy
Recommendation: THAT New Westminster City Council be requested to consider:
THAT the Arts, Culture, and Economic Development Advisory Committee recommend a letter be sent to Jake Sawatzky, MP, requesting that funding for the Canada Summer Jobs Wage Subsidy be increased in order to support local organizations in hiring students for summer employment that contributes to independent businesses, the arts and culture sector, and overall economic growth in New Westminster.
There are many Arts and Business organizations in town that benefit for the summer student program, and many great events that happen because summer students can be hired to help make them happen. Recent cuts to that program are a concern, and through the Arts Culture and Economic Development Committee, it was recommended we formally remind our Member of Parliament that this tiny item in the Federal Budget has a huge impact on the ground in our community.

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We then adopted a raft of Bylaws::

Development Cost Charges Bylaw No. 8327, 2022, Amendment Bylaw No. 8539, 2025
This Bylaw that adds Police Stations and Firehalls to the things we can raise money for through development Cost Charges was adopted by Council.

Zoning Bylaw No. 6680, 2001, Amendment Bylaw No. 8543, 2025
This zoning Bylaw change that makes it harder to open a new Vape Store in the City was adopted by Council.

Development Cost Charges Fire Protection Reserve Fund Establishment Bylaw No. 8559, 2025
This Bylaw that establishes a reserve fund for the money we raise to build a firehall through DCCs was adopted by Council.

Development Cost Charges Parkland Acquisition and Development Reserve Fund Establishment Bylaw No. 8561, 2025
Development Cost Charges Reserve Fund Establishment Bylaw No. 7172, 2008, Amendment Bylaw No. 8562, 2025
These Bylaws that simplify our DCC program that supports new parks and park amenities was adopted by Council.

Subdivision and Development Control Bylaw No. 7142, 2007, Amendment Bylaw No. 8564, 2025
Delegation Bylaw No. 7176, 2015, Amendment Bylaw No. 8566, 2025
These Bylaws that updates and modernize how we do subdivision and hook-up of utilities for new development was adopted by Council.

Officers Establishment and Indemnity Bylaw No. 7175, 2007, Amendment Bylaw No. 8565, 2025
This Bylaw that amends how we appoint “officers” in regulated positions on city staff was adopted by Council.

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Finally, we had one piece of New Business:

Modernizing Federal Small Business Policy to Support Local Economic Stability and Succession
Councillor Henderson

WHEREAS municipalities across Canada are experiencing significant commercial rent escalation, with retail rents in major urban markets increasing by over 140 per cent since 2019 and industrial rents doubling since 2020, placing intense pressure on local small businesses and main street economies;

AND WHEREAS locally-owned small businesses are foundational to municipal economic resilience, recirculating two to four times more revenue locally than chain businesses, providing stable employment, and contributing to community character and vibrancy;

AND WHEREAS many long-standing, viable businesses with consistent revenue and rent payment histories are unable to access commercial mortgages or acquisition financing due to restrictive lending practices and limitations within the Canada Small Business Financing Program (CSBFP);

AND WHEREAS the current CSBFP property loan limit of $1 million no longer reflects commercial real estate market conditions in many Canadian communities, constraining opportunities for business property ownership and contributing to displacement, closures, and consolidation;

AND WHEREAS nearly three-quarters of Canadian business owners are expected to retire within the next decade, placing more than $2 trillion in business assets at risk, and the lack of accessible acquisition financing is resulting in business closures or sales to large chains and private equity rather than local entrepreneurs;

AND WHEREAS Canada’s federal definition of “small business” (1-99 employees) does not reflect the realities of the business ecosystem, failing to distinguish between micro-businesses and much larger enterprises, and excluding approximately two million self-employed Canadians with zero employees from most small business support programs;

AND WHEREAS women entrepreneurs, racialized entrepreneurs, Indigenous entrepreneurs, and immigrants are disproportionately represented among self-employed and micro-business owners and are therefore systematically excluded from federal supports due to current definitions;

AND WHEREAS international jurisdictions including the European Union, United Kingdom, United States, and Australia formally recognize micro-businesses as a distinct category for policy and program design, enabling more targeted and effective supports;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Federation of Canadian Municipalities call on the Government of Canada to modernize and optimize the Canada Small Business Financing
Program by:
a) increasing the maximum eligible loan amount for commercial property financing to reflect current market conditions;
b) expanding eligible uses to include business acquisition financing, including asset and share purchases, to support local business succession;
c) reducing program fees and improving affordability; and
d) adjusting program design to better de-risk lending while maintaining a guarantee-based model that minimizes fiscal impact;

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that FCM call on the Government of Canada to establish a formal federal Micro-Business Designation, defined as businesses with 0-9 paid employees and up to $1.5 million in annual revenue, explicitly including self-employed individuals without employees;

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that FCM advocate for the use of this Micro-Business Designation to enable more precise, equitable, and effective federal policy tools, including targeted access to financing, regulatory simplification, and employment-support incentives appropriate to business scale;

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that FCM communicate that modernizing federal small business financing and definitions will strengthen local economies, preserve community-serving businesses, support equitable entrepreneurship, and help municipalities retain jobs, services, and neighbourhood vitality.

This motion was a request to send a resolution to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in May. The deadline to submit resolutions we very tight, and this was very last second, but it arose out of ongoing discussions Councillor Henderson has been having with local businesses, regional leaders from White Rock to Mission, and even national small business support organizations. The specific requests are to the Federal Government, and are challenges faced across the country. Council voted to endorse this going to FCM.

Whew! Last meeting of 2025 had an epic agenda, even for the end of the year meeting. I’m going to try to keep these reports short, and come back in future post to unpack a bit some of the meatier items.

The following items were moved On Consent:

Food Security and Systems Plan
Food security is a challenge in New West, as it is across Canada – Nationwide 25% of Canadians experience food insecurity, this should be a national shame for a country as rich as ours. Though we have several food bank service providers, the service is strained, and volunteers and non-profit capacity is at its limit. Some programs are winding down or consolidating for lack of resources, and the need is not going away.

Staff have developed a Food Security and Systems Plan to better support collaboration among local and regional providers, and to seek senior government support. This was developed over 16 months through working with Fraser Health, the homelessness coalition, the business community, faith-based and non-profit organizations, with financial resources provided by the BC Healthy Communities Fund. There are 40 actions identified here under 6 different themes, and this report asked for Council’s support to move ahead with implementation.

Indigenous Relations Response to November 3, 2025 Council Motion
This is an information report responding to a Council motion to get an update on our Reconciliation actions, specifically our approach to UNDRIP, the Calls to Action of the TRC Commission report, and the Calls to Justice of the MMIWG report. In short, the report provides a framework for better accounting for the work done, and the work we have yet to do.

Issuance of Development Variance Permit DVP00750 for 1125 Fifth Avenue
As mentioned last meeting, this 34-unit strata project in the Brow of the Hill was given rezoning in 2016(!) and a Development Permit in 2018(!) and is still an empty lot, demonstrating that municipal approvals are not always the thing slowing down new housing development. We have updated some parking requirements since then, but adopting those would require a complete redesign of the building. As it appears the builder finally wants to get building with what is approved, so we now need to give them a variance to allow the next steps to proceed. This is the decision to issue the variance approved in principle last meeting.

Officers Establishment and Indemnity Bylaw No. 7175, 2007, Amendment Bylaw No. 8565, 2025 and Delegation Bylaw No. 7176, 2015, Amendment Bylaw No. 8566, 2025 for Consideration of First, Second and Third Reading
Among City staff, some are “Officers” in that they have specific legislated authority under various Provincial Acts, and some had specific delegated authority under City Bylaws (they can make decisions without needing to ask Council). This Bylaw names those positions and limits those authorities, and we are making some relatively minor amendments to update it.

Rescission of Third Reading of Development Cost Charges Bylaw No. 8327, 2022, Amendment Bylaw No. 8539, 2025
Back in August we gave third reading to a new DCC Bylaw following changed made by the Province on these funding models. We are required us to submit the Bylaw to the Ministry for approval before adoption. The inspector didn’t like that we used the words “Protective Services”, and would rather we use the terms “fire protection” and “police”, and split up our Protective Service DCC between the two. So we are rescinding the Third reading and resubmitting with this language change.

Rescission of Third Reading of Development Cost Charges Protective Services Reserve Fund Establishment Bylaw
Because of the above, we need to do the same with the name of the Reserve Fund we set up and make it into two separate reserve funds.

Solid Waste Master Plan
Solid Waste is complicated. When I was a kid, we threw glad bags in cans and it all went to an open landfill on the edge of town to feed the bears. Today we have multiple streams for economic and environmental reasons. Landfills are expensive and far away, so we try to reduce what goes there, preferring to recycle organic materials into compost and biofuel, while Extended Producer Responsibility programs mean recyclable plastic, papers and metals need to go to special processing facilities. And how that waste is separated and collected varies depending on whether you live in a single family home, an apartment of townhouse, or by the size and scale of your business. It’s complicated, and becoming more expensive.

The City has undertaken a comprehensive review of its solid waste program, and has developed its first Solid Waste Management Plan to help us prioritize and coordinate capital investment and better allocate resources and service levels. And we even had hundreds of New West residents engage with us through this planning!

The resultant plan has 15 recommendations over 5 focus areas, and implementation will see several opportunities for public discussion about waste management and for Council to provide some input or commitment of resources. I really enjoyed how the report included rationale and case study analysis of each of the 15 recommendations – we are not re-inventing the wheel here, but are building on what has worked in other jurisdictions. Each also comes with a qualitative measure of economic, environmental, and social impacts/costs of each recommendation to help Council see how the prioritization was set. This is a good report, and I’m looking forward to the plan implementation.

Subdivision and Development Control Bylaw No. 7142, 2007, Amendment Bylaw No. 8564, 2025
This Bylaw sets the standards for land subdivision and servicing these subdivided lots. Industry standards for these bylaws have evolved, as have Provincial regulations, and our Bylaw needs an update. These are mostly administrative, though some standards are also being updated, and that gets real technical real quick (runoff coefficients! Fireflow requirements!).

Zoning Bylaw No. 6680, 2001, Amendment Bylaw No. 8543, 2025 [Vape Stores]
These are the first three readings of the updates to the Zoning Amendment Bylaws to more strictly regulate Vape Shops as discussed last meeting

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We then addressed these following items that were Removed from Consent for discussion:

Sixth Avenue and Second Street Road Safety Study
This intersection in Queens Park has received a lot of attention over the last year, as cars keep crashing into each other there. According to our recent intersection Safety Study, it is only the 57th most frequently crashed intersection in the City, with no history of vulnerable road user crashes, meaning it wasn’t prioritized for upgrades. It already has pedestrian controlled stoplights, stop signs, four marked crosswalks, and is in a 30km/h school zone. Some increased safety measures were installed in 2019 and 2022 as well.

After all that, there was still community concern, so staff undertook a detailed safety study, including tracking near-miss and traffic behavior analysis. No surprise, behaviors like speeding, illegal parking, and “aggressive turn movements” are major risk factors, but there are also some engineering challenges – sightlines, the road is too wide, and driveways of an adjacent business and a bus stop are too close to the intersection. Staff are recommending changes, some quick and relatively cheap including “curb extensions” that will no doubt be universally beloved (/s), with eventual migration to a fully signalized intersection, which will cost about $1.2 Million.

Budget 2026: General Fund Five Year Capital Plan (2026 – 2030) and Funding Strategy
There are multiple steps to our budget process, and we do this all transparently at every step. We have had previous reporting on the proposed capital plan for the year ahead, and need to fit that into a 5-year capital plan to meet provincial reporting guidelines, and we need to outline what parts of that will be funded by grants, reserves, or debt.

Of course planning capital spending 5 years down the road is in many ways educated guesswork, as we don’t know where the global or local economy will be 5 years from now, or the cost of capital construction (which as we learned in recent reporting, has increased much. Much faster than “CPI” inflation over the last decade). However, we do know what we need to build, as we have advanced Asset Management Plans and clear priorities for new assets.

There is also an important nuance in here that we cannot apply for senior government or other grants, or even spend reserves drawn from development contributions, without the project being included in a Capital plan first. So some of these projects are “aspirational” to get us ready for when funding opportunities arise. We still need to have a viable funding plan for 5 years in the future, in case none of that senior support arises. That means we need to anticipate borrowing or other methods to pay for the infrastructure we need, but does not commit us (of future councils) to borrowing in the future. We are also now starting to extend our capital investment planning to 10 years (longer than required by legislation) in order to set up future Councils for success in asset renewal.

There is a LOT here (492 lines in the spreadsheet if you want to go line-by-line) so I will follow up with more detail in the new year.

Our City, Our Homes: Implementation of Provincial Housing Legislation – Bylaws for First and Second Readings
The Provincial housing regulations of last year and our Housing Accelerator Fund commitments to the Federal Government all come together as a suite of Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaw updates, which we will be taking to Public Hearing early in the New Year. For logistical reason, these are split into two broad categories, this first one covering the Transit Oriented Development areas resulting from Bill 47 and new Affordable Housing measures to reduce regulatory barriers to affordability within those areas, and changes to the OCP to incorporate the findings of the Interim Housing Needs report as required by Provincial Regulations.
Council unanimously agreed to move forward with the framework as presented back in our October 27 workshop, after more than a year of work by staff, multiple Council meetings, and a long and multi-faceted public engagement process.

I’m going to hold off on more comment about this until the Public Hearing in January to respect the process. C’mon out and tell us how you feel!

Our City, Our Homes: Implementation of Townhouse and Affordable Housing Accelerator Fund Initiatives Bylaws for First and Second Reading
This is the second part of those OCP and zoning changes that support townhouses and broader Affordable Housing acceleration city-wide. Much like the above item, I’m going to hold off on more comment about this until the Public Hearing in January to respect the process. C’mon out and tell us how you feel!

Response to Council Motion: “Inventory of Municipal Arts and Culture Indoor and Outdoor Spaces”
This is a report back on a Council motion to provide a clearer inventory of Arts spaces in the City. This is a preliminary inventory of City-owned indoor and outdoor places that are available for formal programming, and it is a lot of them, along with a list of non-City and private spaces available for programming events.

Response to Council Motion: That the Motion Received by Council from the Community Heritage Commission Regarding an Updated Mandate and Scope of Authority be Referred to Staff for Consultation with the Commission Chair and Subsequent Report Back to Council
There was a lengthy recommendation brought to Council from the Community Heritage Commission back in November that appeared to massively expand the mandate of the commission, in some areas that made sense, and some others that look logistically (if not legislatively) difficult to imagine. In the strictest language of the motion, it looked like a massive bundle of red tape that would take significant city resources to manage. Council in its wisdom referred this back to staff for a bit of analysis and to recommend a path of how to evaluate what is a Terms of Reference Change and what would require the re-writing of several Bylaws in the City. This report provides that path.

In short, staff is going to work with the CHC to undertake a community consultation and review its Terms of Reference, and make recommendations to Council some time next year based on the result of that review.

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We than had one Motion from Council:

Provincial Referendum on Selection of Metro Vancouver Regional District Board of Directors
Submitted by Councillor Fontaine

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Mayor write a letter on behalf of Council to the Premier requesting the provincial government take the necessary steps to undertake a referendum during the 2026 civic election on a new and more accountable governance model for Metro Vancouver which would include an option to:
1. Directly elect the Metro Vancouver Board of Directors; and
Significantly reduce the size of the Board of Directors by utilizing a modernized weighted voting model
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT staff be directed to draft a motion which would be submitted to the Lower Mainland Local Government Association seeking their support for this initiative
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Mayor write to the Premier requesting that as part of the 2026 Budget he immediately provide the necessary funds and expand the mandate of BC’s Auditor General to include Metro Vancouver and all municipalities in the province.

This is a motion I spoke strongly against, as it seems completely bereft of any understanding of the current and historic governance of Regional Districts, of the governance review work at MetroVan being led by Vancouver Councillor Lisa Dominato, and seems to offer a solution that will do nothing to help any of the current challenges at Metro Van.

As a wise man once said, “For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong” This seems to be that kind of solution.

While the mover offered nothing but “vibes” that it would fix everything, there is ample evidence that it won’t. The evidence includes the previous model from the 1970s when there was a directly elected board of Metro, a model that was abandoned after only a few years because it was highly unworkable. Then there is the external governance review of Metro Vancouver completed by Deloitte, which (despite the mover’s lie false assertion of the opposite, did in fact evaluate direct election as a governance model and recommended strongly against it for a long list of reasons. A few choice quotes:

“There is no guarantee that an individual elected by the public onto the Board of Metro Vancouver is able to bring better skills, municipal experience, or otherwise better govern the significant risk and complexity related to a multi-billion dollar utility, housing and regional service organization”
“There is no certainty that a slate of elected directors would work together more effectively than the current appointed officials. In some instances, the political leverage or the need for several municipalities to collaborate on other initiatives force the appointed officers to collaborate today”
“An elected official model could create scenarios where the Board becomes divided or driven towards a different strategic agenda at the expense of the municipalities”
“we did not see any significant advantages from such an investment in changing to this source of candidates and in fact it may perpetuate or complicate current governance challenges.”

So Council wisely chose not to recommend this course to the Province and voted against the first two clauses.

On the last clause, it equally failed to acknowledge the recent history of the Auditor General for Local Government. This provincial government campaigned on shutting the AGLG, then did so after a review of the office, and local governments sent a strong message through UBCM that the AGLG was not a good use of government resources. So, I’m not sure why we would advocate for a return of those services as it seems extremely unlikely that a government running into a revenue and debt problem would invest in changing course now after doing something that made the municipalities of the province happy. Spending more money to make everyone unhappy seems a curious path to suggest. However, Council did support this last clause in a split vote, so I’ll write the letter.

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Then we put a wrap on the season by adopting the following Bylaws

Results of Local Area Service on Council Initiative: Renewal of Downtown New Westminster Business Improvement Area (Primary Area) Bylaw No. 8548, 2025 and Downtown New Westminster Business Improvement Area (Secondary Area) Bylaw No. 8549, 2025
BIAs are entities regulated by the Community Charter. Though the BIA is a non-profit collective that belongs 100% to the members, the City acts as an agent to collect the parcel taxes from the members and return those taxes to the BIA to fund their programs. This requires Bylaws, and those Bylaws require regular renewal. The BIA surveys its members every time, and this time opposition to the BIA tax levy was under 5% of members in one part of the BIA, and under 8% in the other. So Council adopted the Bylaws and let the BIA do what the BIA does!

New Westminster Amenity Cost Charges Reserve Fund Establishment Bylaw No. 8560, 2025
This Bylaw that sets ups a reserve fund for ACCs was adopted by Council.

Revenue Anticipation Borrowing Bylaw No. 7142, 2010, Amendment Bylaw No. 8567, 2025
This Bylaw that allows the City to dip into a short-term “line of credit” in case of a tax time cash crunch was adopted by Council.

Engineering User Fees and Rates Bylaw No. 7553, 2013, Amendment Bylaw No. 8568, 2025
Electrical Utility Bylaw No. 6502, 1998, Amendment Bylaw No. 8569, 2025
These Bylaws that set various rates for utility and other services for 2026 was Adopted by Council.

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And with that, we are off until early January. I hope however you celebrate the holidays, you get the excitement/relaxation/rest/exercise/family/food/fun/isolation/whatever you enjoy the most, and we’ll see you in what is looking like and exciting 2026.