For the Record with Daniel Fontaine & Paul Minhas

NWP President and former council candidate Karima Budhwani is this week's special guest on For the Record. She chats with host Daniel Fontaine about what it took to win the recent New West school board by-election and speculates regarding whether another by-election might transpire soon - but this time at city council. Karima helps to demystify the role of her elector organization as it pertai...

Special guest Rich Patterson appears on For the Record to speak about the state of our small businesses in New Westminster. Patterson speaks about how the local Chamber of Commerce was negatively impacted by the pandemic but is now seeing a resurgence of new members. Some of the other topics we explore include how the City's business license application process could be reformed to raise great...

Small business owner Anita Dunn made headlines recently when she announced she was closing her high-profile Mila and Paige clothing store this spring. In her announcement, Dunn took direct aim at a raft of city-related decisions and initiatives that she believes led to the demise of her retail shop. Whether it was skyrocketing parking rates or the impact a lengthy sewer replacement project took on...

Join special guest New West Councillor Paul Minhas for a special Feb 26th City Council roundup discussion. We start the podcast off with our popular Bell or Buzzer game including a discussion on what's been happening to some iconic local small businesses. Other topics include a 14% property tax hike over two years; using the Heritage Revitalization Agreement process to protect a non-native tre...

On this episode of For the Record, we chat with popular Delta City Councillor Dylan Kruger. Dylan was first elected to Council in 2018 and has made a big impression in his community. We cover a number of interesting topics including trucks smashing into overpasses, housing shortages and flood protection in both Delta and New Westminster. Dylan also touches upon the challenges of getting younger pe...

Special guest Councillor Paul Minhas joins the podcast to review the most recent New Westminster Council meeting which took place on Feb 5th. The meeting was cut short due to a disruption in the Chamber, but not before Council got to conduct some important business. In this podcast we discuss why a simple motion to visit PoCo and learn how they can increase services while keeping their taxes low -...

On Saturday, Feb 3rd Kathleen Carlsen 'beat the machine' and won the School District 40 by-election. This secured her a seat on the New Westminster School Board. In her first podcast appearance since being elected, Carlsen sits down to discuss the campaign and some of its more memorable moments. She also talks about the struggles that independent candidates have to win in New Westminster a...

Councillor Paul Minhas discusses key items from the January 22, 2023 Council meeting. We discuss a range of reports and votes that took place on a variety of issues. A new feature "Bell or Buzzer" is launched and you'll want to hear how Coun. Minhas fared! Some of the topics include the proposed 7.7% property tax increase, the "Dubai Debacle", recovery houses, thumbs down for a...

Surrey City Councillor Linda Annis discusses the need for a "Snow Summit" and better preparation in Metro Vancouver when it comes to dealing with snow events. What is holding us back? Why is there such a lack of interest in hearing from the subject-matter experts? Annis provides her perspective on this issue as well as an overview of how new provincial legislation will impact Surrey's...

Coun. Paul Minhas is my special guest as we review some of the items discussed at New Westminster City Council on January 8th, 2024. There were a number of core civic topics discussed like pedestrian safety, recreational facilities, street light installations and more. We also spoke about a new costly mushroom wall being planned to replace the Queen's Park Petting Zoo which has been permanentl...

For the Record sat down with first-term ABC Vancouver City Councillor Mike Klassen to talk city politics. Our discussion covered a number of interesting topic areas. How will the October 2024 provincial election be impacted by civic issues originating in the Metro Vancouver area? What issues do we both feel will make headlines in Vancouver and New Westminster in 2024? We have a look ahead in our p...

In this episode host Daniel Fontaine interviews "Philip" - he's the game show contestant who become famous after appearing on the Price is Right and overbidding on a trip to New Westminster. Tourism New West launched a #findphilip campaign and once he was found they got to work using this as a great opportunity to promote our city. Philip is now back in Arizona and in this podcast he r...

Our political pundit panel is back to rank the top 5 issues that made news in the Royal City in 2023 when it came to our city and school board. Special guests include New Westminster Councillor Paul Minhas, School Trustee Danielle Connelly and Trustee Candidate Kathleen Carlsen. Property taxes, homelessness and the Dee Beattie affair all make the top 5, but where do they rank? You'll have to d...

In this episode, my special political pundit panel have a look back at what they consider were some of the top stories of 2023 when it comes to municipal and school district issues. In Part 1 of this podcast we begin to countdown the top 10 stories that we feel are noteworthy for this year for a variety of different reasons. According to my guests, there were no shortage of stories to choose from!...

Well known political commentator Bill Tieleman appears on For the Record to talk densifcation, Surrey Police Service, the need for public hearings, building city budgets and why Metro Vancouver should be modernizing its governance structure. Bill also talks about why "we might be on the road to hell'. Tieleman has been politically active for decades and is a life-long member of the NDP. He...

In this podcast I sit down at Waves Coffee on Columbia Street with intrepid former journalist Ria Renouf. We talk about her genuine interest in city politics and how this might - one day - translate into a run for Mayor of the Royal City. Ria discusses the role a pizza played when it came to breaking a province-wide story about the resignation of former Community First School Trustee Dee Beattie....

It all started with a fake Twitter account set up by a local civic politician in New Westminster. After a bit of sleuthing by a couple of local parents, it led to a resignation. Now we're about to invest a significant amount of School District dollars to undertake a by-election. In this episode, we sit down with trustee candidate Kathleen Carlsen to find out why she thinks Community First &#39...

City Councillor Daniel Fontaine welcomes fellow New Westminster City Councillor Paul Minhas to the inaugural podcast of For the Record. They discuss a number of topics including oil spills in the Fraser River, citizen assemblies, train whistle cessation, crime and safety, the elimination of the Royal City moniker and the Snow Summit plus much, much more! Tune in today.