Two political parties are making promises to Queensborough as part of the 2024 provincial election campaign – in what some political pundits consider a riding to watch.
On Tuesday, Richmond-Queensborough NDP candidate Aman Singh announced the bus program that transports students from Queensborough to New Westminster Secondary School would become free and permanent. On Thursday, Conservative leader John Rustad and Steve Kooner, the party’s candidate in Richmond-Queensborough, announced the Conservatives “would build” a new athletic facility in Queensborough.
The Richmond-Queensborough riding is a relatively new riding, having first been created in 2015. BC Liberals’ candidate Jas Johal became the riding’s first MLA, when he edged out Singh by just 134 votes in the 2017 provincial election. In 2020, Singh beat Johal by about 1,600 votes in what was one of the closest races in B.C.
Queensborough bus
During the 2020 provincial election campaign, Singh promised a free bus service between Queensborough and NWSS.
Last fall, Singh announced that the long-awaited school bus service would begin in January 2024. At the time he said the province was providing the New Westminster school district with a $1.614-million grant to operate the service as a pilot project for 2.5 years, during which time students would pay a $30 monthly fee to offset the total cost.
This week, Singh announced an NDP government would make the Queensborough bus program permanent and would remove the fees for the more than 230 teenagers using the service.
“Ensuring that families and students can rely on this bus program for free with help families with their costs,” he said in an Oct. 8 news release. “And it means that they can travel to and from school safely without worrying about walking over a bridge.”
In the news release, Singh said a TransLink school bus was cut by BC Liberal government in 2013, when John Rustad was serving as a Liberal MLA.
“John Rustad’s previous government cut bus service and then dragged their feet on getting support for students,” he said. “We’ll continue to support families in Queensborough. Parents in our communities deserve a government that’s on your side.”
When announcing the launch of the pilot project, Singh told the Record the service would be reviewed once it was operating, and a longer term plan would be developed.
“We were hoping to provide a free bus service. But looking around the province, the only place where a free service is provided, except for under 12 year olds, is places where students can't actually get to a place without a school bus service, so in remote areas,” he said when the province announced the pilot project. “It would be unfair to British Columbians elsewhere to do that.”
The Record contacted the BC NDP for confirmation about when the bus service would become free and permanent and was told: “We will get to work right away after this election on this commitment.”
Track and turf field
On Thursday, the Conservative Party of BC announced that if it formed government it would build a new athletic facility in Queensborough.
Rustad said the Conservatives are committed to the construction of a much-needed sports complex in Queensborough. He said a Conservative government would invest $5 million to create a space where youth, seniors, and all community members can gather and exercise in a safe and accessible environment.
Kooner said this project is about giving back to a community that has been underserved for decades.
"For too long, Queensborough has been overlooked by politicians, and it’s time for a real, tangible investment in this community," he said in a news release. "A new track and turf field would be more than just an athletic facility—it would be a hub for social activity, a space for youth to play, and a safe place for our elderly residents to stay active and healthy.”
According to the Conservatives, the “proposed” track and turf field would serve as a multi-purpose venue and would be suitable for everything from soccer and running to community events and fitness programs for seniors. Noting Queensborough’s unique geographic challenges, including frequent wet conditions, the party’s news release said the artificial turf would provide a reliable, all-weather solution to the current unusable grass fields.
"This investment is an acknowledgement that Queensborough deserves better, and we are committed to fighting for it," Rustad said. "We believe this project will not only improve physical health outcomes but also strengthen the sense of community, providing a place where people can connect, share, and support each other."
The Record reached out to the City of New Westminster to confirm of the province can build recreation facilities in New Westminster.
Although the delivery of community-based recreation and park services and facilities typically falls within the purview of local and regional governments, the city said there is nothing preventing a senior government from constructing and operating a public athletic facility such as an artificial turf field or track. More commonly, senior governments would provide full or partial funding to a local government to plan, construct and operate project, assuming the local government supported the need for such a project.
Councillors Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas, the two New West Progressive councillors on city council, have advocated for the construction of an all-weather track and field in Queensborough. In January 2023, they put forward a series of recommendations for council’s consideration, including one to have city staff identify the funds necessary to undertake a planning and community consultation process to determine the feasibility of prioritizing an all-weather field in Ryall Park in Queensborough.
Council did not support that motion, instead voting 5-2 vote to refer the issue to the parks and recreation comprehensive plan, where it could be considered as part of the city’s overall parks and recreation needs and get community input. (Minhas and Fontaine were opposed.)
In March 2023, representatives of the parent advisory councils at the elementary and middle school in Queensborough, the Gurdwara Sahib Sukh Sagar and New Westminster Soccer Club, and Queensborough parents spoke as delegations at council about the need for an all-weather field and track at Ryall Park.
At that time, staff said “an off-the-shelf artificial turf field with lights” would cost at least $2 million but noted that soil conditions would be a “significant driver” on the variability of costs for field construction. Staff told council that Queensborough is built in the middle of a river on fairly boggy, peaty soil, so it is possible that the soil conditions there would add to the cost of constructing a field.
Staff also spoke about preliminary work that had been done related to the construction of a conventional eight-lane, 400-metre running track at Ryall Park.
“Unfortunately, the use and the site are not compatible with each other, without looking beyond the footprint of the field itself, to be able to accommodate that particular need,” staff told council in 2023.
The City of New Westminster’s 2024 to 2028 capital plan includes a project to convert an existing grass field to artificial turf, but the site for this project has not yet been determined.
