SPECIAL STATEMENT BY COUNCILLORS DANIEL FONTAINE AND PAUL MINHAS
“A leader … is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.”
-Nelson Mandela
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New Westminster deserves so much better.
What transpired yesterday in City Hall is a complete lack of leadership on the part of Mayor Patrick Johnstone.
On a night when we were scheduled to hear from local citizens about issues of concern to them such as our operating budget and affordable housing, our democratic proceedings were abruptly and unnecessarily shut down.
They were halted by a single speaker who resides outside of New Westminster and who time after time flagrantly broke the City’s Procedure’s By-law. The speaker spoke to Mayor and Council and used his time to refer to a member of Council as a ‘bigot’ while also making assertions they are racist.
It is the fiduciary duty of the Mayor, who serves as the Chair of the meeting, to stop this type of vitriol, defamatory comments and disruptions. The Mayor has a duty not only to members of Council, but to the public, that our local democracy doesn’t turn into a circus.
We have been advised by the Mayor that not only did he meet with the protester prior to the disruption, but so too did another member of Council. In fact, the individual who disrupted Council advised the Mayor that he was going to make remarks that would be disturbing to children and youth.
Last night was a complete failure of leadership. It was an outright abuse of the rules and a clear lack of enforcement of those rules. Sadly, it is the residents of New Westminster, in particular those who were in the Chamber lined up to speak to Council, who ended up paying the price.
It was those residents who made their way to City Hall to speak to Council, that ultimately lost out when we adjourned before all the business was complete.
It saddens us that former Community First now independent Councillor Nadine Nakagawa provided an opening for this disruption by introducing a motion in December 2023 regarding the conflict in the Middle East. As we have stated publicly, that motion does nothing to stop the war, but it will unnecessarily divide our community and disrupt the business of City Hall.
We’d rather be debating the construction of new community centers. We’d rather focus our time on building a new skating rink and playing surfaces. We shouldn’t be debating international conflicts or other issues for which we have no control nor have any jurisdiction.
If you too are concerned with what you saw, please write to Mayor and Council and let us all know how you feel. Please don’t remain silent as your voice must be heard. It’s time to end the disruptions and get back to what we were elected to do – govern the city.
clerks@newwestcity.ca (send your email to Mayor and Council by using this address)
CORRECTION: Please note our original post stated the Mayor met “in private” with the delegate to Council. According to the Mayor, he only met with the individual inside the public Chamber. We apologize for the error and have corrected our post.