Year end message from New West Progressives

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Message from the President

On behalf of the New West Progressives (NWP), I want to wish everyone season’s greetings and take a moment to reflect on the last year and look ahead to 2021.

I’m pleased to report that notwithstanding the current pandemic, the New West Progressives have been very active this year. Some of our key accomplishments include:

• Annual General Meeting held on April 16th online
• Convened 5 meetings of the Board of Directors
• Finalized our 2020-2022 Strategic Plan
• Increased our online and communications presence
• Launched our new brand
• Wrote to council in opposition to the anti-democratic changes to the sign bylaw
• Established a Nomination Committee to prepare for the 2022 civic election

2020: Year of the Pandemic

2020 has posed many challenges for New Westminster families as we collectively worked to cope with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Civic services were severely disrupted as we all strived to ‘bend the curve’. But there have been many heartwarming stories in our community of individuals and local businesses reaching out and helping those in need. In terms of our role: Earlier this year, the New West Progressives donated $1,000 to the foodbank to help individuals and families most impacted by the pandemic. These funds were matched by the community which resulted in over $2,000 being contributed to a very worthy cause.

New Westminster also lost a large part of our iconic pier in 2020 due to a major waterfront fire. Sadly, New Westminster citizens are also forced to drive to Coquitlam now to recycle if they want to help protect our environment: 2020 saw City Hall unnecessarily shut down our cherished recycling depot next to the Canada Games Pool, all while construction of a new pool was delayed yet again.

On a more positive note, after over a decade of discussion, the New Westminster Secondary School is finally ready for occupancy. In January 2020 our high school students will be moving into a brand new state-of-the-art facility. This is long overdue and it’s great to see this project finally coming to completion.

I want to take a moment to recognize Danielle Connelly, our New West Progressives School Trustee. She has been very busy representing the interests of New Westminster families and students over the last year. Below is a personal update from her.

A Message from School Trustee Danielle Connelly

It goes without saying, this year has been an extraordinary one on the school board with many projects and initiatives being sidelined due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, one of the most significant delays was the new high school completion and occupancy. Happily, and with a lot of effort from our district staff, the project has received its occupancy permit and students will be in the building after the winter break. I am so grateful the grade 12’s will have a chance to spend some time in the new building, especially with everything else that has been going on. They can look forward to simultaneously celebrating being the last grade 12’s to graduate from the old building and first to graduate in the new building!

One of the biggest issues facing our district, aside from COVID-19, is the lack of buildable space for new schools to accommodate the growth in our region. This is a particular challenge for New Westminster schools as the city continues to alter their new official community plan to accommodate more densification and growth. Without a coordinated effort to accommodate this growth as it translates to schools, students in our district will be faced with the prospect of more portables and crowded buildings.

There has been a lot of work done over the past year with regards to improving special education processes in the district. There is a lot to do going forward and a key part of it will be communicating to students, staff and parents along the way.

I did nominate myself for school board vice-chair of the in the most recent board elections. Not surprisingly, that did not amount to much.

Heading into the final two years of my current term, I will continue to keep the interests of students in our districts at the heart of everything I do while looking to our community to continue to reach out and share your thoughts and ideas on ways we can improve how we meet the needs of students in our district.
 

The Road Ahead in 2021: A President\’s note

We are now less than 2 years away from the next civic election. The New West Progressives are planning to run a mayoral candidate and a full slate of candidates for council and school board. Our Board of Directors will be finalizing the nomination selection process soon and will be making more information available to the public in 2021. If you are interested in running with us in 2022, be sure to check out our website for the latest details on how to apply.

Our door is always open to you if you want to provide us with feedback, ideas or suggestions on how we can become an even stronger civic-based community organization. On behalf of the entire Board of Directors and our membership, I want to thank you for your continued support and wish you all the best of the season and a Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Daniel Fontaine
President
New West Progressives
info@nwprogressives.ca
/newwestprogressives


If you have a thought, opinion or idea regarding any of issues in our community, be sure to drop us a line at info@nwprogressives.ca or chat with us via social media.