New Westminster Record October 20 2022

Johnstone

battle for

TheresaMcManus tmcmanus@newwestrecord ca

Teamwork.

It was a message Patrick Johnstone consistently spoke of during the 2022 election campaign, and it was a message that continued Saturday night, as the in cumbent councillor came out on top in the three person race to become New Westminster’s mayor

Preliminary election results showed Johnstone garnered 6,676 votes, with NewWest Progressives mayoral candi date Ken Armstrong placing second with 5,227 votes and veteran councillor Chuck Puchmayr coming in third with 3,912 votes

“It’s not me. It’s a team who did a lot of work There was an incredible team of people,” Johnstone said “I’m really proud of the 12 candidates I ran with They all worked really hard.They all came to gether They all knocked on doors They all got their message out And I’m a lit tle disappointed that not all of them are going to get over the top but I’m really proud of the work they did ”

Joining Johnstone on council will be fel low Community First NewWest candi dates Ruby Campbell, incumbent Jaimie McEvoy,Tasha Henderson and incum bent Nadine Nakagawa Paul Minhas and Daniel Fontaine of the NewWest Pro gressives were also elected to council (See stories on page 3 )

Johnstone said he’s not at all worried about working with a council team that includes rookie councillors and NewWest Progressives

“I think we’re all working together I think everybody has the same goal in

mind; I think everyone has the same goal to serve the city,” he said. “I’m not at all concerned about building this team to gether and getting everyone working to gether again.”

That doesn’t come as a surprise to Johnstone’s mom, Marilyn, who joined other family members in council cham

bers on Saturday night to watch the re sults

“I am so proud,” she said “He worked his butt off And I’m most proud he never took all the credit. He knows he needs a team He always brought his team to gether, and that’s what I’m most happy about ”

Marilyn said working as part of a team has long been a part of her son’s life

“We’re curlers And when you’re a curler, nobody takes the glory. Four peo ple get there together,” she told the Record “And I think he has brought that to his job. But he’s also absolutely honest.

VICTORY: Patrick Johnstone is surrounded by jubilant supporters at the Community First New West election night victory party at Angelina’s restaurant Johnstone topped the New West Progressives’ Ken Armstrong and independent Chuck Puchmayr in the mayor’s race PHOTO JENNIFERGAUTHIER

in the community

New West Progressives grab two council seats

TheresaMcManus tmcmanus@newwestrecord ca

And then there were three

Four years after running its first slate of candidates for city council and school board and getting one trustee elected the New West Progressives have make a breakthrough on city council

On Saturday night, Paul Minhas and Dan iel Fontaine were elected to council and incumbent trustee Danielle Connelly was re elected to school board

The three are pledging to make sure that people’s voices are heard on city council and school board

“The fact that the three of us are here, and only five years ago NewWest Progressives weren’t even around, I think, is a pretty big testimony and the fact that there’s this movement

afoot, and the voters want to hear that perspective,” said Fontaine, who helped found the NewWest Pro gressives.

While he had hoped to have had other NWP can didates elected to council, Fontaine said it’s a “pretty historic moment” to have two NewWest Progres sives elected to council

“For me, I’m very proud of being the first Indige nous person on city coun cil,” said Fontaine, who is Métis. “That to me, per sonally, is something I’m very proud of ”

Minhas said “the peo ple have spoken loud and clear” that they want to be heard at city hall

“They need to be heard We can definitely be a voice for the people It’s imperative that people get heard,” he said. “There needs to be more transpar ency, more accountability, and no more in

house conversations that nobody knows about ”

Fontaine said Ken Arm strong did “an amazing job” and had a great re sult as the party’s first ever mayoral candidate

“We knocked on thou sands of doors through out the campaign, and people were telling us that they were not being heard, that their voices weren’t being heard on council,” Fontaine said “And I think we’re a re flection of the fact that people want to have their voice heard, and we’re go ing to make sure that we’re going to play that role I know I will. I know Paul’s committed to doing that on council And Danielle has been great, a strong voice on school board, to making sure that people’s voices are heard.”

Connelly said she’s been able to work as part of a team during her first term

on school board

“I think that we’re all in it for the right reasons students and people in the city And if you can’t work together with those

common goals in mind, then you have bigger prob lems,” she said. “But I think that we’re all pre pared to collaborate and work well for the inter

ests of everybody in New West ” Added Minhas: “We will definitely work together with the Community First team.”

Four new faces in, one incumbent out in council race

TheresaMcManus tmcmanus@newwestrecord ca

Four new faces are join ing NewWestminster city council and an incum bent lost her bid for a sec ond term in office

First time council can didate Ruby Campbell topped the polls with 8,354 votes. A member of the Community First NewWest slate, Campbell said she was shocked and grateful to be elected, and she’s ready to get to work

“Housing.We need to figure out a way to house people We just need to figure out a way that works for everybody

“We’re in a housing cri sis We have to figure out a gentle, kind, efficient way

to figure out how we can make the homes for peo ple,” she said “And then, obviously, climate emer gency. I mean, look at it, it’s October and we’re having August weather So we need to figure out how we can do everything through a climate lens ”

Campbell said she’s “extremely thrilled” that Community First may or elect Patrick Johnstone will lead the city

“He’s got the vision we need for the future. He is a strong team player I’m thrilled for him, but I’m thrilled for our city; I’m thrilled for our residents that they have somebody like Pat,” she said

The 2022 race featured 12 candidates vying for

six councillor seats six Community First New West candidates, five New West Progressives and one independent Community First can didates took the top four spots

Incumbent Jaimie Mc Evoy placed second in the polls with 7,927 votes,

beating his previous best tally of 6,799 votes Mc Evoy’s second place finish was his highest placement in five elections

First time council can didate Tasha Henderson placed third with 7,704 votes, followed by incum bent Nadine Nakagawa at 7,663. NewWest Pro

gressives candidates took the final two spots on council Paul Minhas with 7,252 and Daniel Fontaine with 7,189 (see related story above)

One term incumbent councillor Chinu Das lost her re election bid, plac ing seventh in the six per son councillor race. She had 7,027 votes

“That’s politics,” Das told the Record. “I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t say there was some disappointment, but I’m not devastated I have other things I want to do as well ”

Das said she’s sad she won’t be returning to council but believes the city is in good hands She said she’ll miss work

ing with the “diligent and wonderful” staff who work so hard for the city

“I’m thrilled that so many people on Commu nity First got in They all worked very hard, so I’m really happy for them,” she said

“I’m just hoping that they have a great term ahead ”

A trio of NewWest Pro gressives candidates Rick Folka (6,283); Kar ima Budhwani (6,204); and Jiayi Li McCarthy (6,012) placed eighth, ninth and 10th.

Community First’s Bereket Kebede was 11th with 5,786 votes, and in dependent candidate Daniel Ampong trailed at 3,743.

Paul Minhas,Daniel Fontaine will take their places alongside a Community First majority

BREAKTHROUGH: Daniel Fontaine, Danielle Connelly and Paul Minhas, seen here at Inn at the Quay on election night, won seats for the New West Progressives

PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER

Council picks: Community First candidates (from left) Ruby Campbell and Jaimie McEvoy were the top vote getters for council, while incumbent Chinu Das lost her seat PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED

VOLUNTEER FOR A CITY COMMITTEE

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RESULTS

City

‘I HOLD MY HEAD HIGH’

The two men who ran against Johnstone, meanwhile, have mixed emotions about Satur day’s result

Armstrong was pleased to see two of his NewWest Progressives teammates, Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas, elected to council

For himself, he said he’s grate ful for the support of more than 5,000 people who supported a first time candidate with no council experience

“They showed a lot of faith and trust in me, my team and in our ideas, and I am truly grate ful for that,” he told the Record “Obviously, I would have pre ferred to have won But I hold my head high ”

Armstrong said he’s going to take some time to decompress and get back to his main job as a lawyer before making any deci

head high’: Armstrong, Puchmayr respond

sions about future political runs.

“I’m not going to rule out running for anything in 2026 I’m not going to rule out seek ing other public office,” he said. “In the interim, I have no spe cific plans We’ll worry about later later.”

Armstrong said the election results show there is a diversity of opinions in the city about var ious issues. He pointed out that Johnstone didn’t get the major ity of the mayoral vote, as Arm strong and Puchmayr had more votes combined than Johnstone

“You need to be respectful of different ideas and be respectful of the diversity of opinions that the voters showed our council lors that they have,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong said he’s confident the Community First NewWest mayor and four councillors will be welcoming to the two New West Progressives on council

“I’m confident that they will be receptive to diversity of opin ion,” he said “And I’m hopeful

that some of the ideas we have put forward will be adopted by this council ”

‘I WANTTO LEAVE FIGHTING’

For Puchmayr, meanwhile, the results mean it’s the end of the political road He served seven terms on city council after

first being elected in 1996 and also serving a term as NewWest minster’s MLA

“It’s almost like a mixed emo tion I feel bad for all the peo ple that helped me I feel bad for them, but I don’t feel bad for me,” he told the Record “I feel that at least I got a chance to

run.That’s the important part. That’s the way I want to leave If I’m going to leave, I want to leave fighting, not beaten up”

While Puchmayr had been en dorsed by the NewWestmin ster and District Labour Coun cil in some previous elections, he didn’t receive its endorse ment for this election He ran as an independent instead, against Community First’s team of labour endorsed candidates with Johnstone at the helm

Puchmayr said the results re flect the difficulty independents have in going up against orga nized slates of candidates

“It shows that certainly teams are big, like the ground game is big They had 10 to 14 times the ground game that I did, be cause I’m the candidate they had numerous candidates to take that message to the door So that’s really important,” he said. “You know, the ground game is so important, and they did well with the ground game. It was hard to overcome ”

FREE WORKSHOPS, COACHING, PROGRAMS, & GROUPS IN

WESTMINSTER

He has got integrity And he will work his butt off for NewWest minster ”

Proud mom: Marilyn Johnstone hugs son Patrick after election results were announced at city hall on Saturday night PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER

Topic: Bike lanes in New West

“Our city decision makers must believe there are more bikes than cars in our city So unfair to the stores locked behind these bike lanes, especially with reduced parking adjacent to them ”

“It’s about time we made some changes for the benefit of transit users and pedestrians/ cyclists Cars have been the only consideration for decades ”

MY VIEW KEITH BALDREY

Municipal elections send an ominous signal to the BC NDP

If presumptive new BC NDP leader David Eby is thinking of calling an early election next spring, he would be wise to take a deep dive into last Saturday’s mu nicipal election results

He would see a political landscape rattled by wide spread voter caused earth quakes that should give poli ticians of all stripes pause for concern.

More than three dozen mayors were booted from their positions, whole coun cils were replaced and many incumbent councillors were tossed aside

The carnage was felt ev erywhere, from large cities like Vancouver and Surrey to small towns like Sechelt and Fernie and everything in between

This was not the case of the left beating the right, or vice versa The only pattern that has emerged is that in so many places voters wanted the incumbent gone

In Vancouver, for exam ple, the centre right ABC party’s seven candidates were elected to council, plus it captured the mayor’s office.

But in Langford, outside of Victoria on Vancouver Island, the voters kicked out the entire pro development council and its long serving mayor and replaced them with candidates who made the environment and social conditions their priorities

In some municipal con tests, issues like crime and housing affordability were surely top of mind for many

voters But that doesn’t seem to explain the widespread rising up against so many mayors

Instead, I think as we come out of a historic pan demic that turned society upside down, a restless elec torate is feeling less reliant on government and more desirous of change at so many levels.

Judging by the defeat of many mayors and council ors who liked to engage in infighting and petty squab bling in their political jobs, people also seem fed up with that kind of behavior

If Eby (or whoever is premier) were to call a snap election amid this kind of widespread “throw the bums out” mentality, it could end in disaster

I am sure many of the mayors who lost were shocked at their ouster The unthinkable can easily hap pen when people are angry and fed up

In retrospect, the BC NDP must be thanking their lucky stars they called an unneeded election back in 2020, before the public mood shifted to one of frustration and wanting change.

Back then, the voters gave the NDP a massive and his toric majority and the ability to govern until 2024.

As tempting as it may be, asking those same voters to deliver the same outcome in the near future could be akin to walking into a political buzz saw

Keith Baldrey is chief po litical reporter for Global BC

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CONTACT:

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MANAGER

Letters

Bike lanes not worth it

Editor: To my surprise, I went to take my vacuum in for repair at Columbia Vacuum at 769 Sixth St , only to find that the new bike lane has taken away all parking on the east side of Sixth Street from Seventh Avenue to Eighth Avenue So those poor businesses in that whole block no longer have any customer parking.

These businesses have suffered enough in the last three years that they certainly don’t need this on top of everything else

I’m not against bike lanes, but when it takes away parking for a whole block, that is insane

Across from the vacuum shop there is parking, but only two spots, again because of the bike lane. When you head north on Sixth Street, past Eighth Avenue, the bike lane has taken away parking for the houses on the east side so they can no longer park in front of their house or even have company over with nowhere to park

Also, the bus stop is now in the middle of the road, so the bus can no longer pull off the road when loading and unloading people. This will just cause a traffic jam Who thought of this and why?

I haven’t seen a bike on the bike lane yet I feel so bad for those businesses who have lost

their on street parking

To what cost did it cost us taxpayers? The roads in New Westminster are in terrible shape and should be repaired before this kind of senseless money is spent on unnecessary bike lanes for the very few that use them.

Doug Brunn, New Westminster

Bike lanes are a benefit to everyone in NewWest

Editor: For most of the past 15 years my car has been my primary mode of transportation I’ve survived the city’s Cool Streets initiative, the extended sidewalks during COVID and now bike lanes.

Navigating all these initiatives to give cy clists and pedestrians more priority has never caused me stress, made me late for work, or caused me any other kind of inconvenience I actually welcome them knowing they’re going to keep more vulnerable road users safe I’m also happy to see the city making the commit ment to address our infrastructure deficit by installing permanent bike lanes instead of the temporary ones

The completion of the AAA cycle network is going to be something all New Westers can benefit from. Rohan Singh, New Westminster

Starting a renovation?

On October 6th , The Senior of Distinction Awards was held to recognize local seniors and the valuable contributions they have made, and continue to make, in

and families.

LOIS

City

JulieMacLellan jmaclellan@newwestrecord ca

Community First New West remains in firm con trol of the NewWestmin ster school board, as all six of its candidates fin ished victorious Saturday night.

Incumbent Maya Russell was the top vote get ter of the night In fact, her 8,785 votes were more than any other single candidate earned in any of the three races for mayor, council and school board

Her fellow Community First incumbents, Dee Be attie and Gurveen Dha

liwal, earned the fourth and sixth highest vote counts, respectively.

Community First new comer Marc Andres had the second highest vote total of the night, while fel low newcomer Cheryl Sluis was in fifth The final Community First candidate, NewWestmin ster poet laure ate Elliott Slinn, was in a seesaw battle with the NewWest Progressives’ Kathleen Carlsen for the seventh and final spot on the board but, in the end, emerged with a 338 vote margin of victory

Results

ELECTED

Maya Russell 8,785 Marc Andres 8,720 Danielle Connelly 8,703 Dee Beattie 8,526 Cheryl Sluis 8,160

Gurveen Dhaliwal 7,953 Elliott Slinn 7,756

NOT ELECTED Kathleen Carlsen 7,418 Teo Dobe 7,181

Russell tops the polls as Community First retains control of school board Maya Russell top vote getter

Source: election night pre liminary results from City of New Westminster

The only non Commu nity First candidate to win a seat was incumbent Da nielle Connelly, running for a second term with the NewWest Progressives

Arts & Entertainment

New West FilmFest returns this weekend

NaveenaVijayan nvijayan@newwestrecord ca

Ever found yourself full of questions after watch ing a documentary?What if you had a chance to dis cuss your thoughts with the people who created the movie? NewWest Film Festival 2022 will provide an avenue for just that.

At the festival, set to happen between Oct 21 and 23 at Landmark Cin ema, the audience will be able to watch the docu mentary Love in theTime of Fentanyl and then direct questions to the crew

Cathy Sostad, program mer of this year’s festi val, said, “This is going to be a community event to discuss local issues; and a safe space for people to gather and build commu nity”

In fact, this year, the fes tival has also added a so cial gathering session for a couple of movies to help filmmakers build their net work

In the past 11 years, the festival, organized by the non profit NewWest Film Society, has evolved from one that featured only en vironmental documenta ries to one that includes features and short films, including experimental, horror, sci fi, animation, comedy, drama and more “It began as a way to bring awareness to the NewWestminster commu nity about environmen

tal issues, and then ex panded,” said Sostad, who joined the film society two years ago

The festival includes films about other issues too but ultimately, added Sostad, “it’s all con nected to building a better planet and community”

This year, the society re ceived as many as 154 en tries from 22 countries (77 were from Canada, seven films from or set in NewWestminster). For ty two of them will be shown at the three day fest these include titles such Paper Dreams, an Iranian movie about how a boy

deals with being an albino; Citizen of Moria, a Cana dian movie that explores the story of a refugee who survives Europe’s deten tion camp Moria; and Fragile Seeds, a Canadian thriller that follows the life of a therapist working with sex offenders, among oth ers

While the subjects seem diverse, they all, said Sos tad, have one thing in common they were completed during the pan demic “I think it’s really stunning that people made art through a global pan demic That’s a beautiful thing ”

And recognizing that people continued to build community though the art of film, the festival’s theme was decided as “coming together through creativ ity,” as per a press release

From the comedy The Noise of Engines, to a thought provoking Feel ing the Apocalypse (a short documentary about a psy chotherapist’s struggle with climate anxiety), the festival will include a range of genres that, Sostad said, can get a viewer excited

“You’re like, ‘I would never have thought of that story’ And that is so excit ing That’s what celebrat

ing creativity is about See ing things that are just not in your spectrum It’s a sharing of ideas ”

You can buy a New West Film Festival pass for $50, or buy tickets for each movie separately at www.newwestfilmfest.ca.

The screening of Love in theTime of Fentanyl and a panel discussion onThe Truth,TheWholeTruth, & Nothing But theTruth: Creative Equity & Au thenticity are free for all to attend

The films will be screened at Landmark Cinemas at NewWestmin ster SkyTrain station

What’s on

Here are some highlights from the schedule See newwestfilmfest ca for full details and tickets

FRIDAY, OCT 21

5 p.m. Paper Dreams, with Digger Dan

7 p.m. Citizen of Moria, with Black Till I Find Darker and Blanket Song

8:30 p.m. Opening night social gathering

SATURDAY, OCT 22

11 a.m. My Mom’s Co op 12:45 p.m. Rematriation

2:15 p m Love In the Time of Fentanyl fol lowed by community panel discussion (free)

4:15 p m Emilienne & The Passage Of Time, with Letter to Heal A Broken Heart 5:45 p.m. Fragile Seeds 7:40 p m The Noise of Engines

9:15 p.m. After Dark Shorts and social

SUNDAY, OCT 23 11 a m Part of the Pack, with Inside the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone ’88 1 p m Facing Injustice: Awasisak, Nomato: A B C Tragedy

2:15 p m Free film panel: The Truth, The Whole Truth, & Nothing But The Truth: Creative Equity and Authenticity

3:30 p

ONSCREEN: Citizen of Moria, a story about an Afghan refugee, is one of the films that will be screened at the 12th Annual New West Film Festival, Oct. 21 to 23. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

Meet the ghosts of New West

lead people

NaveenaVijayan nvijayan@newwestrecord ca

For those who want something more than just lanky skeletons and plastic spiders to spook them this Halloween, Amanda Quill, a NewWest based para normal investigator, has a bunch of spine chilling ghost stories that are backed by solid evidence

On a phone call, Quill, as if talking about a celeb rity, noted, “One of the most famous ghosts at BC Electric Railway (BCER) actually is now in (New West’s) downtown” in one of the trolleys made by BCER, which rests in the Old Spaghetti Fac tory “We have a picture with him (the ghost) on it He wasn’t actually there; he had passed a few years prior to the picture being taken.”

That’s just one account Over the last 10 years, Quill has spent “hours and hours” in the New Westminster Public Li

brary, and NewWestmin ster Museum and Ar chives; she’s approached businesses, buildings and people in the city with the question: Have you heard any ghost stories around here?

The research most of ten led Quill to gather her equipment (“audio re corders, night vision cam eras, different things that are going to pick up on energy fluctuations”) and head to different spots and find out if there were in deed any ghosts living there

Quill will share her ex periences atThe Ghosts of NewWestminster walking tours throughout October

“We have stories about the CPR building, Kelly O’Bryan’s and stories in the tunnel system below NewWestminster.We have stories inThe Met build ing basement and hotel; and in the SkyTrain there is a ghost that comes from the Braid area into Columbia Street station,”

Check it out

locations

Quill has been in the field since she was 17 years old She co founded Coldspotters, a paranor mal investigation and event company in 2012 as a small meet up group for people who are curious about ghost hunters, or want to know how to live in a haunted home now it has grown to 36 groups across the world

said Quill, who spent most of her childhood in Scot land, and has been living in NewWest for the past 12 years.

Quill and her co lead in vestigator Robb Demarest of Ghost Hunters Interna tional, have caught EVPs (electronic voice phenom ena) inThe Met Hotel

“We actually have a woman telling us her name ”

In a couple of down town buildings, they were able to get evidence of a ghost named George and of a little girl that people seem to see glimpses of

She and her team travel far and wide looking for ghosts even in world famous spots such asWa verly Hills Asylum and Al catraz Does she ever get scared?

“Yes, I do,” she said “I mean, if something jumps out at you, you’re going to be startled But am I afraid of ghosts? No I can com fortably say I’m not But I do get a little bit scared; when you’re in the dark basements of an old pen itentiary, you know, the mood gets to you It can be a little bit intense ”

But all the poltergeist and paranormal events, she said, are “really played up in the movies ” Quill chooses to describe such events as feeling “a really strong presence ”

“You have to keep in mind that those (the ghosts) were people once too, and sometimes peo ple are grumpy. Some times they’re not that nice So we can’t expect that they would go into a ghost form and become Casper ”

Quill and her co lead in vestigator Demarest live half the year in NewWest minster, and the other half inWestminster, South Carolina, conducting in vestigations year round But has Quill had a con versation with ghosts?

“I’ve been in a conversa tion with a person (ghost) who, basically 20 minutes later told me it was time he had to go And he left

“It’s fun. And it’s funny. I laugh at myself too be cause, come on, I do sound a little crazy”

Eerie tales: Amanda Quill, a New Westminster based paranormal investigator, is leading Ghosts of New Westminster tours this month PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

TO SATURDAY, OCT. 22

FRIDAY, OCT. 21

COMPUTER WORKSHOP

Wondering how to launch a Zoom call? Or create a beautiful looking graph on Excel? Join a workshop at Aunt Leah’s

Place (816 20th St ) to get all the computer support that you’ve always wanted with email, Google Drive, virtual meeting appli cations and more The free workshop from 11 a m to 2 p m is open to all To register, send an email to mdhall@auntleahs org

MORE: See www.auntleahs.org.

SHERLOCK’S VEILED SECRET

For those who love a good Sherlock Holmes mystery, the long standing theatre groupVagabond Players’ new play, Sherlock’sVeiled Secret, will take you back to 1920s England where a retired Holmes and a young sculptress pursue a blackmailing case. Head to the Bernie LeggeTheatre at Queen’s Park at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to catch the show.Tickets are priced at $17 per adult, and $15 for youth up to 18 years and seniors (65+).

WHEN: Nightly until Saturday, Oct. 22, 8 p.m.

WHERE: Bernie Legge Theatre, Queen’s Park

MORE: See www.vagabondplayers.ca, or reserve tickets by calling 604-521 0412.

THURSDAY, OCT. 20 TO SATURDAY, OCT. 22

HOUSE OF COMEDY

The funniest person in Columbus, Ohio, is coming to NewWest Stand up come dian Jason Banks, who has been featured in shows such asTruTV’s Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks, and Kevin Hart’s LOL Network; and performed on renowned stages such as NewYork City’sThe Apollo, will be at Rick Bronson’s House of Comedy (530 Columbia St ) to crack up the people of NewWest.Tickets are priced at $30 each.

MORE: bc.houseofcomedy.net

SATURDAY, OCT. 22 & SUNDAY, OCT 23

GHOST OF A CHANCE

Want to watch something that is equal parts spooky and silly?The Royal Canadian Theatre Company’s Ghost of a Chance is a story of how a widow’s ex husband refuses to leave her side even as she tries to move on in life Presented in partnership with the

MasseyTheatre Society, the show is priced at $34 99 for adults, and $29 99 for seniors and kids under 12 years of age.The show is at 3:30 p m on both days; additionally, there is a 7:30 p m show on Saturday

MORE: See rctheatreco.com or buy tickets through www.ticketsnw.ca.

SUNDAY, OCT. 23

STORYTIME AND ART

Here’s a fun way your little ones can learn to identify a poodle, a German shep herd or a Labrador A storytime and art event at Kinder Books (810 Quayside Dr ) will feature NewWest based professional dog groomer and author Becca Blue read ing from her books that are inspired by her own pet, Bruce The storytime at 9:30 a m will be followed by an art workshop It’s free for all kids to attend.

MORE: Register at kinderbooks.ca. compiled by Naveena Vijayan

Contributed photo

Legge Theatre

Queen’s Park

The City of NewWest minster will be celebrating the festival of light

The lights will be lit up for a range of days around Oct 24 in recognition of Diwali a celebration marked by four different

faiths (Hindu, Sikh, Jains and some Buddhists).

This Saturday, Oct 22, Century House will host a connected event.

Applaud Indian Cul tureThrough Music, Song and Dance is a program

featuring the ancient art of Indian classical mu sic through dance perfor mances and classical songs played to live music us ing Indian instruments Dance demonstrations (with audience participa

tion), information about Indian instruments, sari tying, henna and snacks are part of the day’s fun

This free event is taking place on Saturday, Oct 22 from 1:30 to 3:30 p m It would be appreciated if at

tendees could pre register byThursday, Oct. 20.

A henna artist will be at tending these three events and offering folks a chance to experience Mehndi It costs $5 for a small design or $7 for a large design

(paid directly to the artist) Register in advance by emailing events@century houseassociaton com or by leaving your name and contact info at the front desk of Century House, 620 Eighth St

BLACKBERRY

Blackberry is a cute little bun who was found loose in downtown New Westminster Fortunately, a kind person found her before anything happened to her At the shelter, Blackberry is shy but curious. She will greet us at the door and take some gentle pets but she is a bit sensitive to quick movements or loud noises, and will run into her tunnel before coming back out. We think with time, she will blossom into a nice little house bunny We feel she would benefit from a quiet home without children. We have not observed Blackberry with other rabbits, but it is possible she would be able to join a resident rabbit, if proper, supervised introductions were done. Blackberry has been examined by a vet, vaccinated, microchipped and spayed. Her adoption fee is $50 + tax.

Beautiful Blueberry the budgie was found as a stray in Queensborough. She is an adult female budgie who loves to sing along to the radio, and chat when humans are in her room. She would love a friendly budgie companion in her new home, if possible. Her adoption fee is $25 + tax.

Classes

Puppy Socialization Program (10-16 weeks)

Private Training

Manners, Puppy Kindergarten, K9 Nose Work®

Tricks & Learning Games, Advanced, Loose leash walking and recall clinics.

Each puppy play group is carefully planned to

every

and successful

experience with other

Th

Center Location 305 Cedar Street, New Westminster, BC • 604-505-8680 www.cathiescanineconnection.com • ccc.cpdt@gmail.com

Program

has

Private training sessions are dedicated for only

to help

and

reach

training goals and / or work on challenges

may be having

Community

New Westminster animal shelter could use your help

The NewWestminster animal shelter is overrun with furry friends in need of homes and it’s hop ing you can help The Queensbor ough based shelter has

34 animals in its care which, as animal services officer Margie Fox notes, is a very large number for a small city Plus, it has a growing waitlist from peo ple who’ve asked to sur

render their animals and who are just waiting for space: 12 cats, 11 dogs, one bird, and 10 rabbits and guinea pigs

“The number of an imals coming in is just

greater than the num ber of animals going out, and certainly the pace is faster,” she said “It is a problem that, sadly, is not just ours We are see ing it in a lot of the Lower

Mainland shelters ”

Check out the listings at www.newwestshelter. petfinder com

The shelter is also look ing for foster homes and welcomes donations of

pet food and care items: canned cat and dog food, catnip, cat litter, toys (es pecially durable dog toys), and bunny and guinea pig toys. See www tinyurl com/HelpNWAnimals.

now looking for a new home. Poppy is a very nice girl who loves to hang out on your shoulder and head, and enjoys some safe supervised free flying time indoors. She doesn’t love stepping up into your finger but is otherwise social. Poppy likes to chirp with her budgie roommate (not in the same cage!) and when we come into the room. We think a parrot-experienced home will be best for Poppy Her age is unknown. Parrotlets can live 20+ years, so please be sure you can commit to this. Poppy’s adoption fee is $75 + tax.

Luke & Scooby are a bonded pair of male guinea pigs who were surrendered as their owner had to leave the country and could not find another home for them in time. Luke is the tri colour Abyssinian boy and Scooby is the black/white Silkie. They are very handsome little fellows who were obviously loved and cared for They are approximately 3.5 years old, and nicely socialized to enjoy human companionship. Please submit an application if you are interested in these cute little guys. Their adoption fee is $37.50 + tax for the pair

Honeydew is a beautiful grey blue bunny who was found as a stray! She is curious and brave. She will come right up to you to check you out, and will take food from your hands. She is accepting of pets. If she gets startled, she’ll dart into a hiding spot but then come back out. Honeydew is a very clean rabbit and is fastidious about her litterbox. We think that she would be fine with respectful children, but other animals are unknown at this time. While she lived with other rabbits outside, introducing her to a resident rabbit would need to be gradual and supervised closely She has been examined by a vet, vaccinated, spayed, and microchipped. Honeydew’s adoption fee is $50 + tax.

YOU FOR

Community

COVID in the House of Old: exhibit stops at Century House

TheresaMcManus tmcmanus@newwestrecord ca

An exhibit aimed at shining a light on the poor state of residential care is coming to NewWestmin ster

COVID in the House of Old will be on display at Century House until Nov 12 Created by professor Megan J. Davies from the health and society pro gram atYork University in Ontario, the exhibit uses audio and visual compo nents to depict the sto ries of seniors who died in care during COVID 19.

“It’s seven chairs, two of which represent Indige nous people, and the other five are a group of peo ple that all died during COVID,” saidVal Mac Donald, a volunteer at

Century House. “Each chair is equipped with a speaker that tells the story of that individual ”

The exhibition also in cludes poster boards with text that outlines what long term care has looked like in Canada and how it’s deteriorated

“It’s quite moving,” MacDonald said “Very informative around the is sues of care in the coun try....This just tells the story about how we have to reform our current care system for the elderly.”

Community members are encouraged to attend the launch of COVID in the House of Old at on Friday, Oct 21 from 2 to 4 p m at Century House In addition to hearing from guest speakers, in cluding Davies and Fari

naz Havaei, a health sys tem researcher at UBC, attendees will also be able to view the travelling ex hibit.

Folks who are unable to attend the launch event can view COVID in the House of Old at Cen tury House until Nov 12, when it will depart for a new location.

“We encourage them to come and learn more about our long term care system, learn about the devastating loss of 7,000 seniors during COVID,” MacDonald said “And that the care just contin ues to decline ”

Century House is at 620 Eighth St , in Moody Park

Lost lives: COVID in the House of Old is on at Century House It tells of the story of seniors who died in care during COVID 19 PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

THIS

Dearly missed by Janine (Taylor); children Lennox Lobban, Erin Reid (Tony March) and Kyler Reid (Cari Irwin); and four grandchildren. Cam was a former New Westminster elementary school counsellor and coordinator of the UBC Counselling Centre at NWSS. Cam was active in coaching and playing sports in the Tri Cities, and he curled and played hockey in New West Cam battled complications of Parkinson’s without complaint for many years. While we will miss him, we are relieved that he is at peace. Private family memorial. In his honour, please consider planting a tree at: onetreeplanted org/collections/canada/products/ british columbia. Affordable Cremation And Burial Society, 2801 Shaughnessy St, Port Coquitlam.

All S l ’ D

In-person

following languages:

9:30 am:

Pilipino Service: https://funeraweb.tv/diffusions/61910

11:00 am: Croatian Service: https://funeraweb.tv/en/diffusions/61911

12:30 pm: Italian Service: https://funeraweb.tv/en/diffusions/61912

2:00 pm: Polish Service: https://funeraweb.tv/diffusions/61913

3:30 pm: English Service: https://funeraweb.tv/en/diffusions/61914

604-435-6688