Patrick Johnstone
Patrick Johnstone | |
|---|---|
| 38th Mayor of New Westminster | |
| Assumed office November 7, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Jonathan X. Côte |
| New Westminster City Councillor | |
| In office December 1, 2014 – November 7, 2022 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kootenays, British Columbia |
| Party | Community First New West |
Other political affiliations |
|
| Alma mater | Simon Fraser University |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Geoscientist |
| Website | www |
Patrick David Johnstone is a Canadian politician and geoscientist who has served as the mayor of New Westminster, British Columbia, since 2022. Prior to becoming mayor, he served two terms as a city councillor on the New Westminster City Council from 2014 to 2022. He has been a member of Community First New West, a social democratic municipal political party, since 2022.[1]
Aside from his work in local government, Johnstone also runs his blog, Ask Pat, where he writes about city council proceedings from his perspective and responds to online questions submitted by members of the public. On occasion, Johnstone will also set up an Ask Pat booth at local gatherings where he answers questions and speaks with members of the public.[citation needed]
Early life and education
[edit]Patrick Johnstone is from the Kootenays region of British Columbia, where he was born and lived during his youth. He attended Simon Fraser University and completed a bachelor of science degree in geography in 1997, and a master of science degree in earth science in 2006.
According to his blog, Johnstone first arrived in New Westminster during the 1980s, and decided to live there permanently in the early 2000s.[citation needed]
Prior to entering politics, Johnstone worked as a project scientist for SNC-Lavalin from 2005 to 2009, and became the environmental coordinator for the City of Richmond in 2009.[2] Jonhstone also got involved in his neighbourhood's Brow of the Hill Residents’ Association, the Royal City Curling Club, and began writing his blog. He was named New Westminster's Citizen of the Year in 2013 by the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce for his contributions to the city of New Westminster.[3]
Political career
[edit]After many years of working for various municipalities in Metro Vancouver, Johnstone decided to enter politics by running for New Westminster City Council in the 2014 election. On election day, he placed fifth and was elected to city council given the city's plurality-at-large electoral system. He was re-elected in 2018.
In 2022, Johnstone helped create Community First New West, a social democratic municipal political party in New Westminster. Johnstone subsequently won the party's nomination for the 2022 British Columbia municipal elections.[4] In October 2022, Johnstone won the mayoral election, after receiving 41.93% of votes in a three-candidate race.[5]
Johnstone attended the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in December 2023, following an invite from the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the ICLEI to represent the City of New Westminster.[6] His trip became the subject of controversy when opposing city councillors criticized Johnstone for not informing city council of his plan to attend the conference.[7] New Westminster City Council eventually rejected the request for a report into the mayor's trip, as New Westminster did not have rules that require elected officials to disclose their travel itinerary to city council, and the trip was not funded by the city's budget.[8][9] However, the city's ethics commissioner later ruled that his trip to the conference did breach the city's ethics rules, and recommended that Johnstone receive additional ethics training.[10]
Johnstone oversaw several upgrades to New Westminster's cycling and pedestrian network, including the extension of the network to New Westminster Secondary School via Sixth Street, and the construction of a protected bike path along the Stewardson Way section of the BC Parkway.[11][12] Johnstone's government also advocated for more speed and red-light cameras to be installed by the provincial government in New Westminster, arguing that one third of police and fire department responses in the city were caused by traffic incidents that could be mitigated with traffic enforcement cameras.[13]
Electoral record
[edit]| 2026 New Westminster municipal election: Mayor | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The 2026 municipal election will be held on October 17. | ||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Elected | ||
| New West Progressives | Daniel Fontaine | |||||
| Community First New West | Patrick Johnstone | |||||
| Total valid votes | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||
| Turnout | ||||||
| Source: | ||||||
| 2022 New Westminster municipal election: Mayor | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Elected | ||
| Community First New West | Patrick Johnstone | 6,676 | 41.93 |  | ||
| New West Progressives | Ken Armstrong | 5,227 | 33.05 | |||
| Independent | Chuck Puchmayr | 3,912 | 26.74 | |||
| Total valid votes | 15,815 | 99.32 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 108 | 0.68 | ||||
| Turnout | 15,923 | 37.52 | ||||
| Source: CivicInfoBC[14] | ||||||
| 2018 New Westminster municipal election: City council | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Elected | |
| Independent | Nadine Nakagawa | 7,764 | 54.04 |  | |
| Independent | Patrick Johnstone | 7,270 | 50.60 | | |
| Independent | Mary Trentadue | 7,202 | 50.13 | | |
| Independent | Jaimie McEvoy | 6,799 | 47.32 | | |
| Independent | Chinu Das | 6,716 | 46.74 | | |
| Independent | Chuck Puchmayr | 6,595 | 45.90 | | |
| New West Progressives | Daniel Fontaine | 5,297 | 36.87 | ||
| New West Progressives | Ellen Vaillancourt | 4,760 | 33.13 | ||
| New West Progressives | Paul McNamara | 4,531 | 31.54 | ||
| New West Progressives | Bryn Ward | 4,490 | 31.25 | ||
| Independent | Mike Ireland | 3,253 | 22.64 | ||
| Independent | Angela Sealy | 3,013 | 20.97 | ||
| Independent | Troy Hunter | 2,638 | 18.36 | ||
| Independent | Benny Ogden | 1,299 | 9.04 | ||
| 2014 New Westminster municipal election: City council | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Elected | |
| Independent | Chuck Puchmayr | 6,262 | 43.00 | | |
| Independent | Lorrie Williams | 6,087 | 41.79 | | |
| Independent | Jaimie McEvoy | 5835 | 40.06 | | |
| Independent | Bill Harper | 5634 | 38.68 | | |
| Independent | Patrick Johnstone | 5582 | 38.33 | | |
| Independent | Mary Trentadue | 5,517 | 37.88 | | |
| Independent | Catherine Cartwright | 5,165 | 35.46 | ||
| Independent | Tej Kainth | 5,111 | 35.09 | ||
| Independent | Calvin Donnelly | 4,394 | 30.17 | ||
| Independent | David Brett | 3,383 | 23.23 | ||
| Independent | Scott McIntosh | 2,579 | 17.71 | ||
| Independent | John Ashdown | 1,895 | 13.01 | ||
| Independent | Tracey Block | 1,847 | 12.68 | ||
| Independent | Gavin Palmer | 1,773 | 12.17 | ||
| Independent | Mike Folka | 1,637 | 11.24 | ||
| Independent | Marge Ashdown | 1,636 | 11.23 | ||
| Independent | Harm Woldring | 1,610 | 11.23 | ||
| Independent | Jim Bell | 1,562 | 10.73 | ||
| Independent | Raj Gupta | 1,235 | 8.48 | ||
| Independent | Gerry Liu | 791 | 5.43 | ||
| Independent | Matt Kadioglu | 269 | 1.85 | ||
References
[edit]- ↑ Theresa McManus (19 April 2022). "New political party to field candidates in New West civic election". New Westminster Record. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
- ↑ Ria Renouf (16 October 2022). "Two-term councillor Patrick Johnstone is New West's mayor-elect". New West Anchor. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
- ↑ Theresa Mcmanus (23 July 2014). "[NEWS] "Rabble-rouser" and citizen of the year Patrick Johnstone seeks seat on council". New West Record. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
- ↑ Julie MacLellan (29 April 2022). "Community First officially out of the gate in New Westminster". New Westminster Record. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- ↑ Julie MacLellan (15 October 2022). "Election Night 2022: Johnstone wins New Westminster mayor's race". New West Record. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- ↑ Patrick Johnstone (28 December 2023). "COP28 (PART 1)". patrickjohnstone.ca. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
- ↑ Darrian Matassa-Fung (3 January 2024). "New Westminster city councillors question mayor's trip to COP28 summit in Dubai". Global News. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
- ↑ Janet Brown & Simon Little (22 January 2024). "New Westminster mayor defends trip to climate summit in Dubai". Global News. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
- ↑ Theresa McManus (23 January 2024). "New West council rejects request for report from mayor on Dubai trip". New Westminster Record. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
- ↑ Holliday, Ian (November 1, 2024). "B.C. mayor's 'luxury' trip to Dubai climate conference was against ethics rules: commissioner". CTV News. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
- ↑ McManus, Theresa (April 4, 2023). "New West unveils mitigation measures for Sixth Street bike lanes". New West Record, via Vancouver is Awesome. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
- ↑ "BC Parkway upgrades now complete in New Westminster". TransLink. June 5, 2025. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
- ↑ Raynaldo Suarez and Charles Brockman (October 28, 2025). "Not a 'cash cow': New Westminster mayor urging province to help install speed cameras". City News. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
- ↑ "2022 election results: New Westminster". CivicInfoBC. Retrieved February 1, 2026.