Author archive for: Will Tomkinson
Businesses, Downtown, Lifestyle, Quayside, Shopping »
Today was the big reveal of Donald’s Market at River Market. On the first day of snow at the beginning of the great winter of 2010/2011, more than half way through November, we all finally got to see what Mark and his team from River Market have been building.
Read the full story »
Hyack the Web, New Westminster, Politics »
Monday night council meetings are a thing to behold! They are open to the public and while many citizens do attend, the process of a council meeting, which can be long and tedious, is often just a bit to late, or early (or dull) to attend in person. Hey, the city gets that, and for several years the civic goings on of our wise and venerable Mayor & Council have been available on TV on the Shaw community channel. But what happens to those of us in our increasingly fragmented media landscape who do not have access to Shaw’s service?
Read the full story »
Events, Lifestyle, New Westminster »
Volunteering in New Westminster connects you to the community like nothing else. There’s no shortage of causes to choose from, but my organization of choice is the Royal City Farmers Market.
Read the full story »
New Westminster, Schools »
The District Parents Advisory Council is on the warpath with a planned rally March 20 at City Hall and an online survey gathering opinions from New Westminsterites about our city’s school-building delays.
Read the full story »
Environment, Events, Garden Nerd Series, Lifestyle, New Westminster »
Last year I started the spring growing season by attending an annual meet and greet event for Plant a Row, Grow a Row, an international organization that had local hubs in many communities. In short, gardeners are asked to produce just a bit more than they otherwise would plant, and donate the surplus to the local food bank.
Read the full story »
Health, Hyack your Health, Lifestyle, New Westminster »
I am one of those guys who is really out of place at a gym; a fish out of water. I spent most of my life as a slender book worm with little interest in sports but as age, fatherhood, a desk job and an affinity for a cheerfully empty pint of beer, I knew something had to change. I had to get active, channel that participaction! action and sign up with the program. For the first time in my life, I needed to get fit; but how? And when?
Looking …
Politics »
During the 2009 Federal By-Election Campaign in the Coquitlam-New Westminster riding, an opportunity has been provided to all election candidates in the riding to post a brief message to their constituents. This message is from Liberal candidate Ken Beck Lee.
Read the full story »
Queen's Park, Restaurants, Uptown »
One of the long-held New Westminster traditions that I had never personally participated in is the perogy dinners offered by the Holy Eucharist Cathedral of the Ukrainian Catholic church (separate archbishop system, same Pope, not Orthodox). Last Friday night we decided to change all that so we loaded up the minivan and took our hungry selves over to 5th Street and 4th Ave for an Apostolic good meal. Perogy night is always a Friday, once a month. The next dinner is October 30.
The set up is classic church basement. Folding …
History, New Westminster, Regiment »
I was in the Queen’s Ave Armories the other day talking with Captain Vernon, an officer in the Royal Westminster Regiment. We had Farmer’s Market business to discuss as the armories are neighbours of the market and I was gauging their interest in joining the RCFM on a project. Captain Vernon was very gracious with his time and during our discussion he reminded me that the public was invited to a ceremony that Sunday, September 13th, in the Queen’s Park Arena for the Change of Command Ceremony.
Wow, that was an …
Issues, Politics »
Well this may not be NEW news as I have seen it reported elsewhere but a conversation today with former Conservative Party New Westminster-Coquitlam MP Paul Forseth confirms that he is seeking the nomination of his party for the next-door riding of Burnaby-New Westminster, where he is a resident.
Procedural difficulty barred him from competing for the nomination of his old riding, a contest concluded this past July by the nomination of Diana Dilworth. While some suspected that shrewd moves led to the nomination process there occurring whilst Forseth was overseas …
Crime, Downtown, Issues, Transportation, Uptown »
I stumbled across New West city Councilor Jaimie McEvoy on Saturday conducting the 2009 wheelability assessment uptown with a group of volunteer citizens. On a perfect September day, the group was busy on 7th street creating an inventory of inaccessible curbs, dangerous sidewalk cracks and non-compliant porticos.
Read the full story »
Businesses, Neighbourhoods, New Westminster, Reviews, Shopping, Uptown »
It was the best of stores, it was the worst of stores….well, nothing is that simple.
New Westminster residents, like folks all over, develop a preference for grocery stores. Those of us habituated to the 6th Ave. Safeway in the Royal City Center have had our choice expanded as the Save on Foods has recently opened in New Westminster Center, on 6th st. Like anything, our individual choices will be based on a number of factors including location, layout, staff, selection and price. While it is impossible to say one …
Businesses, Neighbourhoods, New Westminster, Tenth To The Fraser, West End »
Another great event for New Westminster is coming up on the rapidly changing 12th street area. Significant infrastructure upgrades and livability features have recently been installed and the merchants association sees a bright future ahead.
Merchants, associations and community groups will join with special events all along 12th street, providing a wide array of activities. Tenth to the Fraser will be there (just look outside the Village Coffee House).Come on out and be part of your New Westminster!
Sunday August 2nd. 11:30 to 4:00.
From the official announcement:
Set along 12th Street between 6th …
New Westminster, Politics, Transportation »
Two contestant meetings have been organized by the Electoral District Association for the Conservative party; all candidate events for the upcoming Conservative Party nomination on July 25th.
The first event will be held between 6:30PM-8:30PM at the Justice Institute Theater, 715 McBride Boulevard, New Westminster. The second event will be Wednesday, July 15th between 6:30PM and 8:30PM in the MacDonald-Cartier Room of the Dogwood Pavilion, 624 Poirier Street, Coquitlam. As previously reported, four candidates are up for the nomination: Diana Dilworth of Port Moody, Mark Lea-McKeown of Coquitlam, Andy …
New Westminster, Politics »
Canadian Conservative officials from the New West-Coquitlam electoral district association report that four candidates will vie for the Conservative nomination in that riding including:
Lorraine Brett, New Westminster
Diana Dilworth, Port Moody
Mark Lea-McKeown, Coquitlam
Andy Wickey, Coquitlam
The Royal City’s own Lorraine Brett has been a former candidate for city councilor, Queens Park RA chair, long-time Hyack Committiee member and has been involved with a host of community initiatives:
Our region will benefit from a strong voice at the government table, and I want to be that voice. As a communications consultant, I know …
Read the full story »
Events, Neighbourhoods, New Westminster, Queen's Park »
Our family unit and other Tenth to the Fraser crew are heading out to Queen’s Park today, like so many other Royal City citizens. I have been attending Canada Day in this park almost my whole life. For a long time, I thought of it as a big town party just for me – and a thousand of my closest friends.
The boys and girls from town would stampede from one end of the park to the other (unsupervised – this was the 1980s) looking for flag pins, balloons, cookies, cake and …
Politics »
Coquitlam city councillor Fin Donnelly has been named the NDP candidate for the riding of New Westminster-Coquitlam, beating out New West councillor Lorrie Williams and fellow Coquitlam councillor Barry Lynch at a riding association meeting at Glenbrooke Middle School. Donnelly, a Hyacks swim club record holder, and longtime environmentalist was supported by NDP party leader Jack Layton, who visited the riding to show support for the new candidate in the upcoming by-election (to be called before November, 2009).
Donnelly, a Coquitlam native, has ties to New Westminster through his time as …
Environment, Issues, New Westminster, Tenth To The Fraser »
Some time ago, I was part of meetings in the library, at pubs and shops in town and in the Parks office on 8th street, all with the common purpose of establishing an operating Community Garden project and society for the “mainland” of New Westminster. While Queensborough has had a successful garden operating for a few years now, the many gardeners in New Westminster that would like to get that soil under the nails feeling and yet they have no space available for their work. With one of the highest rental rates …
Read the full story »
Growing up in NW, History, Issues, New Westminster, NW in the news, Politics, Schools, Tenth To The Fraser »
I am having a real problem writing this post. I am a white guy and as my ancestors came to New Westminster in 1909. I am one of the very, veeery few New Westminsterites whose oldsters may have actually participated in active or passive discrimination of Chinese Pioneers in this city’s past.
I fully understand my position in this story but as a bleeding heart liberal and as a BC elementary and secondary student whose history education consisted of French Canadians, Aboriginal Canadians, Chinese Canadians and South Asian Canadians to the …
Environment, Issues, Transportation »
Image by janusz l via Flickr
New Westminster Residents affected by the closure of the Pattullo Bridge last January will no doubt know what is coming as Translink closed the bridge again this season for a significant overhaul of the paved surfaces. Depending on where in the city you reside, festering traffic jams or placid car free streets resulted from the last bridge shut down, caused by a fire set by a transient, that spread to a wooden flex-brace structure. Areas around 20th st. and Queensborough had a nightmare on their …
Read the full story »
Neighbourhoods, New Westminster, West End »
Over the last weekend, our family took advantage of the beautiful weather and the crowd gathered for our son’s birthday and we launched off a couple of model rockets from the Grimston Park field. We had a BLAST, (Yuk Yuk)! We do this ever so often. Once, last April, as soon as we had everything set up, it started to snow and the rocket launched into a growing blizzard of white.
The launches have been nothing fancy, a little kit rocket that we painted red and blue and stuff with an …
New Westminster »
Image by hessiebell via Flickr
As of 10:15 pm:
With 10 of 148 ballot boxed reporting, BC-STV has earned only 44% of the vote so far. 60% of the provincial popular vote is required for the electoral reform referendum to be passed.
Currently, provincial popular support for BC-STV is about 39%, a blow for BC-STV supporters. Major news outlets have called the defeat of the initiative.
Politics, Schools »
Though her early lead of over 60% has waned as the night developed, NDP candidate for New Westminster and former Federal NDP MP Dawn Black held a safe lead as the evening wore on.
An experienced politician and opposition defense critic in Ottawa, Dawn Black will now join the Provincial opposition caucus as New Westminster’s voice in Victoria.
With 142 of 148 ballot boxes reporting, BC Election Results in the riding of New Westminster are below.
New Westminster
Dawn Black
BC NDP
10,908
55.96%
Matthew Laird
Green Party of BC
1,780
9.13%
Carole Dorothy Millar
BC Liberal Party
6,804
34.91%
142 of 148 ballot boxes reported
19,492
100%
New Westminster, Politics »
I returned home recently from casting my ballots for the Referendum on Electoral Reform and for the provincial election. Passing a ‘save our schools’ sign near the parking lot of Connaught Heights Elementary School, we were greeted warmly by our fellow citizens and after a short paperwork check, we voted. I am one of those kooks that really like voting and now as I write, my wife and I are glued to our radios and computers, absorbing the returns (none yet) as they come in.
One point that struck me was …
Read the full story »
New Westminster, Politics »
In Favour Greg Henschel, opposed Anita Hagen.
Henschel was a member of the Citizens Assembly on Election Reform. He was chosen at random to participate. He reminds us that the assembly was brought together by the government to give recommendations on electoral reform after recent elections ( for example in 2001 when the Liberals won all but 2 seats with 53% of the popular vote). After much discussion and research, the group settled on STV as a way to provide multiple MLAs to represent the population more accurately. With no time …