[NEWS] New West election office open for business

Electors, candidates – and anyone else – can get questions answered about the upcoming civic election at city hall.

The City of New Westminster election office is open to the public Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Election office staff will answer questions about the Nov. 15 local and school elections.

The province has also provided the city with a Voters Guide to local election in B.C. The brochures, offered in a number of languages, are available at city hall.

According to the city, New Westminster electors can register online to vote or change their name and address before Sept. 23 by visiting the Elections B.C. website at www.elections.bc.ca or by phoning 1-800-661-8683. Election office staff will be able to help register those who can’t access the Elections B.C. website.

Seeking ideas

Mayoral candidate Jonathan X. Cote is on the hunt for ideas about how to improve the Royal City.

Cote has launched an “Ideas” page on his campaign website as he believes it will provide an opportunity for New West residents to contribute their ideas on how to build a brighter future for New Westminster.
“I wanted to create a place where New Westminster residents could share their concerns and ideas on how to make New Westminster an even better place to live,” he said in a news release. “The feedback I receive will help inform the development of my policy platform for the campaign.”

The page – located on www.votecote.ca – includes questions that cover a broad range of topics including transportation, the local economy, affordable housing and community facilities. Participants can choose to fill out all of the questions or just those that interest them.
 “I believe strongly in community engagement and I wanted to make sure my campaign provided residents an opportunity to participate in my platform development,” he said.
Cote, who will be releasing his full election platform in October, also welcomes suggestions via his campaign phone line at 604-265-0540 or by email at [email protected].

Time to decide

Want to run?

New Westminster voters will be electing one mayor, six councillors and seven school trustees in the Nov. 15 civic election.

The candidate nomination period begins on Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 9 a.m. and closes on Friday, Oct. 10 at 4 p.m.

Nomination forms are available on the city’s website or  at the reception desk at New Westminster city hall. Anyone who is a Canadian citizen, 18 years of age or older on general voting day, a resident of B.C. for at least six months immediately before the day nomination papers are filed and hasn’t been disqualified from being an elected official or holding office (under the Local Government Act or any other enactment) is qualified to run.

For more information, visit the city’s election website at www.newwestcity.ca/elections or call 604-636-4484 or 604-636-4485.