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Municipal political party in New Westminster, British Columbia
Information correct as of February 3, 2024 (2024-02-03)
The New West Progressives (NWP) are a municipal political party in New Westminster, a city in British Columbia, Canada. Despite the 'progressive' name, they maintain a more conservative platform, and were formed to oppose the social democratic municipal government of the late 2010s. The party does not have any formal affiliations with other political parties at the municipal, provincial, or federal level. They were the first municipal political party to be formed in New Westminster.
History
The New West Progressives were founded in 2017 as the New Westminster Progressive Electors Coalition, in preparation for the 2018 British Columbia municipal elections. The party was formed in response to a perceived lack of ideological diversity in city council, as the mayor and every councillor elected for the 2014–2018 term shared similar beliefs, and were all endorsed by the New Westminster and District Labour Council, an affiliate of the Canadian Labour Congress.
During their campaign, the party was criticized for using terminology and an orange colour scheme more commonly associated with left-wing politics in Canada, and were accused by members of the community for trying to trick voters into voting for a more conservative platform. In the party's first election, they did not nominate a candidate for the mayoral election, and instead focused on the city council and school board elections. In their first election, their top candidate for city council, Daniel Fontaine, received 5,297 votes, but ultimately finished seventh and was not elected. Danielle Connelly, a NWP candidate for the school board, placed sixth in the election after receiving 5,626 votes, and became the first member of the party to hold an elected position in New Westminster.
Prior to the 2022 general election, the party began a stronger campaign and nominated a mayoral candidate, Ken Armstrong, for the first time. They also switched their campaign colours from orange to green and purple. Unlike 2018, the NWP were no longer the only political party in New Westminster, following the establishment of the Community First New West political party by several of the social democratic candidates, many of which were incumbent councillors and school board trustees. The New West Progressives were ultimately unsuccessful in the mayoral election, with Armstrong losing to Patrick Johnstone by 1,449 votes. However, they were able to elect two candidates as city councillors, with Paul Minhas and Daniel Fontaine placing fifth and sixth respectively. Fontaine's electoral victory made him the first known Métis and Indigenous member of the New Westminster City Council. Connelly retained her seat as the sole NWP party member on the school board.
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