The crown will go – but New Westminster will stay – as part of the city’s new logo.
Community members will soon be able to share their thoughts on a new corporate logo for the City of New Westminster. The city’s branding and logo currently has a gold crown above the words New Westminster, but a process is underway to develop a new logo.
“The logo was adopted in 2008 for use across the organization and replaced the logo that was most often used at the time, which consisted of the city’s coat of arms with the words ‘Corporation of the City of New Westminster’ arranged around the perimeter,” said a staff report. “The moniker ‘Royal City’ is no longer used in formal city communications or messaging.”
At a May 27 workshop, council voted 4-2 in support of a staff recommendation to endorse an engagement approach and objectives related to the development of a new corporate logo. Council also directed staff to proceed with launching a community engagement process that aims to hear from residents (longtime and new), businesses, community organizations, non-profits, and other groups.
Ashleigh Young, the city’s manager of communications, said engagement will begin in June and continue into July. It will include online engagement (a survey and discussion forum on Be Heard New West) and in-person engagement (pop-ups and workshops).
The City of New Westminster has already hired a graphic design firm (Ion Brand Design) to work on the rebranding project and has established a community working group. The group, which has met twice to date, has come up with some key objectives for the rebranding process.
“One of the key objectives that the group determined was making sure we share clear information about what we're doing,” Young said. “So, what are we asking input on, what are we not, what's on the table, and what's not offered.”
Young said the working group came up with four key themes it wants to explore in the public engagement process related to the rebranding:
- Physical attributes of the city (this could include landmarks, natural elements, the built environment, heritage, and a sense of place)
- community culture and identity (this could include feelings and sentiments, and characteristics of the people here)
- how residents and others connect with the history of New Westminster
- how community members see New Westminster in the future.
Mayor Patrick Johnstone said the process is a way for the city to get input on how community members view the city and what they want to see in the future.
“Ultimately, I think this is a really fun opportunity. And it should be a fun thing for the community to gather together to do so,” he said. “Other than that, I very much I like the approach I like what we are proposing and encourage us to launch with it.”
Divided council
Johnstone, and fellow Community First New West councillors Ruby Campbell and Tasha Henderson, as well as former Community First councillor Nadine Nakagawa supported the staff recommendation.
Councillors Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas, the two New Westminster Progressives on city council, voted against the staff recommendation. (In the lead-up to the fall 2022 civic election, New West Progressives pledged to reverse city council’s decision to ditch the Royal City moniker and to halt the rebranding process.)
Fontaine had several questions for staff at Monday’s workshop.
He questioned if the city has directed the designer to ensure that Indigenous peoples are reflected in the logo’s final design.
Young said the designer is not being directed to have an Indigenous looking logo.
“We are waiting to see what comes from the community and that what we're going to give the designer,” she said. “So, if there is an overwhelming response from the community that that's important, then the designer will consider that. But we're really going to let the feedback and the input that the community provides direct the designer, and see what those themes are and what the priorities are.”
Fontaine questioned if a crown or something connected to the British Royal Family would be incorporated into the new design if that was something supported in the engagement process.
Young said the designer has been instructed that the City of New Westminster wants to be moving away from colonial elements, like the crown, but suggested aspects of the city’s history could be included in the logo in other ways.
Saying he was being serious and was not being facetious, Fontaine questioned if the word New Westminster will be retained in the logo, given that it’s a colonial term.
“It's from Great Britain,” he said. “It has obvious colonial roots.”
Young said that question goes back to the working group’s point about wanting to be clear with the public about what’s on and off the table in terms of a logo change.
“No: there's no plans to change the name of our city,” she told council. “New Westminster is our name, and so that is not up for negotiation. So yes, the logo includes our corporate name, New Westminster.”
Amendments defeated
In voting against the staff recommendation, Fontaine expressed concern about costs and the amount of staff time needed to work on the rebranding initiative.
At Monday’s workshop, Fontaine put forward an amendment to the staff recommendation, which was to have council direct staff to proceed with launching the community engagement process in November 2026 – after the next municipal election. He said that would give the public an opportunity to weigh in about the rebranding initiative.
Council defeated the proposed amendment in a 4-2 vote.
Coun. Ruby Campbell said the process is already included in the 2024 budget and in staff work plans.
“To me, this is a work that's already planned, already in the work plan,” she said. “So, I think we should continue to move forward, and I won't be supporting the amendment.”
When that amendment failed to get council’s support, Fontaine put forward a second amendment: that council direct staff to undertake an informal online vote on at least three logo options for consideration, with the results forwarded to council for information.
Fontaine said the amendment would give members of the public the ability to informally weigh in on potential designs.
“It would be a way to get the public involved, all the public, not just the seven members on the committee or the various stakeholder groups that were identified,” he said. “I think this doesn't have to cost a lot of money; it could be put as a poll on to the city's website.”
If the city is going to go to the effort of spending “close to a half a million dollars to implement a new logo, he said the public should have an opportunity to weigh in.
Coun. Nadine Nakagawa said it’s incorrect to state that it's only seven members of the public and stakeholders are providing input on the logo.
“There were, in this report, public engagement opportunities – that's the whole point,” she said of the report. “And a poll is not public engagement. An online poll does not allow everyone to participate for a number of reasons that we've talked about at length regarding public engagement. So, I will not be supporting it and I want to correct the record on that.”
Nakagawa said the rebranding process has a budget of $40,000, not half a million dollars.
In response to Nakagawa’s comments, Fontaine called a “point of order” saying “a member of council is indicating that I misrepresented and did not provide accurate information – and that is not true.” He said staff had previously stated the cost of the rebranding program could be half-a-million dollars once completed.
(Staff previously told council that it could cost $450,000 to implement a new logo, but that would be phased in over time, as items such as city stationery, signage, and vehicles are replaced.)
How we got here:
New Westminster city council’s approval of public engagement related to a new logo is the latest step in a process dating back almost two years. Here’s a look at some key timelines related to this issue:
- July 2022: In a 6-1 vote, council supported a motion from then-mayor Jonathan Cote to have the City of New Westminster begin the process of updating the city’s logo and phasing out the use of the ‘Royal City’ moniker in its branding. The motion also stated the city would develop a plan to engage with the community in the development of “a new brand identity that is inclusive and allows for collective pride in our city.”
- December 2022: Fontaine and Minhas brought forward a motion to council calling on the city to halt the phasing out of the Royal City moniker in its official branding, and that no changes to the city's branding be undertaken without due notice and consultation with residents, businesses and Indigenous people. At that time, council voted 4-2 that the motion was out of order – because it didn't give any new direction to staff.
- June 2023: Council passed a motion endorsing steps outlined by staff as a process to consider a new logo. Council also directed staff to incorporate the logo project into their work plans and report back on a proposed timeline.
- February 2024: Council voted 4-2 in favour of a motion directing staff to initiate the endorsed rebranding process, and to provide updates to council through the process.
