{"id":110195,"date":"2026-11-04T08:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T13:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=110195"},"modified":"2026-11-04T08:31:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T13:31:00","slug":"new-westminsters-new-mayor-and-councillors-take-their-seats-at-the-council-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/04\/new-westminsters-new-mayor-and-councillors-take-their-seats-at-the-council-table\/","title":{"rendered":"New Westminster&#8217;s new mayor and councillors take their seats at the council table"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Theresa McManus, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Freshet News The inaugural meeting of the 2026 to 2030 city council marked a number of firsts for the City of New Westminster. At the Nov. 2 inaugural council meeting, Daniel Fontaine was sworn in as New Westminster\u2019s new mayor. Six councillors \u2014 including incumbents Paul Minhas and Tasha Henderson, and newcomers Ken Armstrong, Karima Budhwani, Rick Folka and Maryann Morrison \u2014 also took their oaths of office on Monday night. Fontaine told the crowd the newly elected council includes a number of firsts for New Westminster city council: Fontaine and Morrison, who are both M\u00e9tis, become the city\u2019s first Indigenous mayor and first Indigenous female councillor Budhwani is the first Ismaili Muslim woman elected to council Armstrong is the first city councillor&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F11%2F04%2Fnew-westminsters-new-mayor-and-councillors-take-their-seats-at-the-council-table%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Theresa McManus, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Freshet News The inaugural meeting of the 2026 to 2030 city council marked a number of firsts for the City of New Westminster. At the Nov. 2 inaugural council meeting, Daniel Fontaine was sworn in as New Westminster\u2019s new mayor. Six councillors \u2014 including incumbents Paul Minhas and Tasha Henderson, and newcomers Ken Armstrong, Karima Budhwani, Rick Folka and Maryann Morrison \u2014 also took their oaths of office on Monday night. Fontaine told the crowd the newly elected council includes a number of firsts for New Westminster city council: Fontaine and Morrison, who are both M\u00e9tis, become the city\u2019s first Indigenous mayor and first Indigenous female councillor Budhwani is the first Ismaili Muslim woman elected to council Armstrong is the first city councillor... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F11%2F04%2Fnew-westminsters-new-mayor-and-councillors-take-their-seats-at-the-council-table%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>New Westminster&#039;s new mayor and councillors take their seats at the council table - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/04\/new-westminsters-new-mayor-and-councillors-take-their-seats-at-the-council-table\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Westminster&#039;s new mayor and councillors take their seats at the council table - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Theresa McManus, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Freshet News The inaugural meeting of the 2026 to 2030 city council marked a number of firsts for the City of New Westminster. 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Fontaine told the crowd the newly elected council includes a number of firsts for New Westminster city council: Fontaine and Morrison, who are both M\u00e9tis, become the city\u2019s first Indigenous mayor and first Indigenous female councillor Budhwani is the first Ismaili Muslim woman elected to council Armstrong is the first city councillor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/04\/new-westminsters-new-mayor-and-councillors-take-their-seats-at-the-council-table\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-11-04T13:31:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/04\\\/new-westminsters-new-mayor-and-councillors-take-their-seats-at-the-council-table\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/04\\\/new-westminsters-new-mayor-and-councillors-take-their-seats-at-the-council-table\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"New Westminster&#8217;s new mayor and councillors take their seats at the council table\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-04T13:31:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/04\\\/new-westminsters-new-mayor-and-councillors-take-their-seats-at-the-council-table\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":941,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/04\\\/new-westminsters-new-mayor-and-councillors-take-their-seats-at-the-council-table\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/04\\\/new-westminsters-new-mayor-and-councillors-take-their-seats-at-the-council-table\\\/\",\"name\":\"New Westminster's new mayor and councillors take their seats at the council table - 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