Community First New West

09/04/2026

Plenty of good news across the city in August!

From the many ways we came together, to safer streets across the city, to a beautiful new mural downtown, here's some of what made us proud to call New West home.

Swipe through for our August roundup, and tell us what made your month.

🗳️ Vote Community First on October 17!

09/02/2026

Meet Paul Romein (he/him), running for School Board Trustee. 🚲

As a parent of three young kids, Paul cares deeply about the funding pressures on schools and families. It's what he hears at District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) meetings, where he's Skwo:wech's representative, and from other parents at the park. As Trustee, he'll press the Province for more teachers and resource staff so kids get the support they need.

Paul has run a small business for 23 years and taught at BCIT for 13. He has deep community roots too, as former vice president of the Downtown New West BIA, current co-president of the Sapperton Business Collective, and a member of city advisory committees for over a decade.

Beyond schools, Paul is a champion of the green spaces and active transportation routes that make New West work for families.

"We e-bike as a family more than we drive, to school, to daycare, to the river, to Queen's Park, downtown, and Queensborough. Our outdoor spaces really do function as an extension of our living room, which matters more and more as families like ours live in denser housing."

Vote for Paul Romein for New West School Board Trustee, and the rest of Community First October 17. 🗳️

09/01/2026

20 years of showing up for New West as an active volunteer, as councillor, and now, as mayor. 🧡

On CBC's Early Edition this morning, Mayor Patrick Johnstone laid out what this election is about: staying true to our values in anxious political and economic times.

Yes to affordable housing. Support for our most vulnerable neighbours. Safe streets, thriving business and arts, real investment in our parks.

"We got down to work and delivered, and I don't want to stop that momentum."

Vote Community First on October 17. 🗳️

08/26/2026

Stop scrolling and read this one. 🏓

At Saturday's Hyack's Fireworks Festival ping pong tournament, Tasha Henderson - City Councillor, City of New Westminster met Satybir, and the story he shared says everything about why community matters.

When Satybir moved to New West, he started playing ping pong at Pier Park every evening. Familiar faces became friends. Now he, three other players, and their spouses travel together, share meals, and show up for one another. In his words, their world feels full of colour again.

This is what belonging looks like. And as Tasha reminds us, it doesn't happen by accident. It certainly doesn't happen when we lead with anger, fear, and division.

Community First is about building a New West where all people belong.

Stop scrolling and meet Satybir.

Satybir took part in the Ping Pong Tournament at the Hyack Festival on Saturday. Now get ready for the tears.

He shared with me that his whole world turned to colour when he moved to New West. He started playing ping pong at Pier Park every evening and started recognizing familiar faces. Soon, they started meeting to play together. Now, the four ping pong players and their spouses - all different ages and backgrounds - do day travel trips together, share meals, and have become a community for each other.

He said it's changed his life to have this community. That his wife was housebound and now she's up moving more, cooking breakfast for the crew and being more social. He said they both have more energy and vibrancy and... Colour. He kept repeating it: their world feels full of colour now.

I mean... 😭😭😭

Why do I do this work? Well, this. I'm here to build a community that feels like home. Where people belong. Where folks can move here, move into a tower, and still find this kind of welcoming community with their neighbours. This doesn't happen accidentally and it certainly doesn't happen if you lead with anger, fear, and division.

I committed to leading with compassion, care, and centering people and connection when I was elected in 2022. And that is what I will continue to do if I'm re-elected in October. I want to keep building a community full of colour.

This is a special place and New Westies are a special brand of humans. Gosh dangit, I love this town.

[Image Description: Tasha and Satybir pose for a photo in Pier Park]

08/25/2026

The most powerful voters in New West might not know it yet. Nearly half of this city rents, and renting has never stopped you from voting.

New West's record on renters goes back years, and it continues today. As Mayor Patrick Johnstone puts it: "A legacy of leadership in protecting affordable housing, from standing up for tenants facing demoviction to stopping renovictions, continues in New West. We were the first city in BC to take on renovictions, and we've built on that every term since." That work started in 2019 with the council team that went on to form Community First.

New West was the first city in BC to take on renovictions with a bylaw, making landlords prove a renovation was needed instead of an excuse to push tenants out. It held up in court twice, and the Province later brought in similar protections for all of BC.

Since then we've made sure renters can come home at the same rent after redevelopment, kept new homes as secure rentals, and passed Canada's first maximum heat bylaw so no one has to swelter through another heat dome. To back it up, we voted yes to renter support, with dedicated bylaw officers on rental compliance and a Tenant Support Coordinator renters can call.

We're proud of that record, and we know there's more to do.

If you rent in New West, you can decide this election. You can vote if you're 18 or older, a Canadian citizen, and you've lived in BC for the past six months. Living here is enough, with no minimum time required, so even a recent move-in qualifies.

Election Day is Saturday, October 17, with advance voting on October 7, 8, 9, 10, and 14. Not sure if you're registered? You can register right when you vote.

Full details: https://www.newwestcity.ca/city_hall/election_information/voter-information

Vote Community First. 🗳️

Authorized by Doug Johnstone, CPA, Financial Agent [email protected]

08/24/2026

Another Saturday, another full day for Mayor Patrick Johnstone.

Some work to start, then out across New West meeting neighbours, dropping in on community events, and celebrating everything happening in our city right now. This is the job at its best, and Patrick Johnstone wouldn't have it any other way.

08/22/2026

Ten reasons New West is kinda chic. Vote for Community First on October 17.