As 2022 draws to a close, we’re looking back at the top 10 New Westminster news stories of the year.
Yesterday, we brought you a recap of some of the top COVID-19 related stories of 2022.
The journey through the year’s biggest headlines continues today with number 4: the Royal City rebranding
Royal City rebranding causes a stir in New Westminster
One of Jonathan Cote’s final motions as mayor continues to reverberate through some communities within New Westminster.
In July, city council approved Cote’s motion to begin the process of updating the City of New Westminster’s logo and phasing out the use of the “Royal City” moniker in its branding. The motion also called on the city to 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.”
“We are a community that has many histories that need to be celebrated and focused upon,” he said. “We have many histories that existed well before we were a city that need to be reflected in upon in the work we do.”
Coun. Chuck Puchmayr joked that Cote had left council with “a nice parting grenade” before the election. Council approved the motion, with only Puchmayr voting in opposition.
Cote said he didn’t view his motion as leaving a grenade for the next council, but as being the right time to engage in this conversation. He told council that when he sends letters to Indigenous nations, it’s done on City of New Westminster letterhead bearing a colonial crown.
“From my perspective, I think that's not appropriate for that to be the symbol of our city,” he said.
Cote said council had considered moving away from the Royal City branding many years ago, but chose not to go that route after hearing from concerned community members. But he said a lot has changed in the community since those conversations took place 17 years earlier and he didn’t anticipate the same reaction, as there’s a growing recognition that the city is on a path towards reconciliation and is undertaking work related to inclusivity.
Some community members fully supported council’s view that it’s time for New Westminster to rebrand and move away from the Royal City nickname and crown logo, and it’s time to select a logo that’s more reflective of today’s New Westminster – not the city named by Queen Victoria in 1859, and thereby dubbed the Royal City.
Long known in B.C. as the Royal City, city council’s decision garnered media attention.
“Crown comes down as New Westminster, B.C. drops ‘Royal City' moniker,” said a report by Global News.
A CBC headline stated: “New Westminster to phase out Royal City moniker as it looks to rebrand.
Not unlike the commentary that resulted when the Royal City issue arose more than a decade earlier, many community members were devastated and angered by council’s decision. Some said it’s an important part of the city’s heritage, while others expressed concern what the change would negatively impact the plethora of businesses using Royal City in their names.
The decision, which came three months before October’s municipal election, led to a petition launched by the New West Progressives. Hundreds of people signed an online petition calling on the city to save the Royal City moniker.
Council’s decision also resulted in hundreds of comments on various social media platforms and many letters to the editor of the Record.
While housing, infrastructure and crime were top issues in the 2022 civic election campaign, residents also raised the Royal City issue at several all-candidates on the campaign trail.
During the election campaign, the lone independent councillor candidate, the New West Progressives team of council candidates and Puchmayr, running as an independent mayoral candidate, all pledged to review or reverse the decision.
The latest
The issue returned to the forefront on Dec. 12, when, at council’s final meeting of 2022, the two New West Progressive candidates on council – Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas – brought forward a motion 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 proper consultation with residents, businesses and Indigenous people.
Fontaine said the motion would “rectify the problem” that was started in the summer.
At that meeting, council asked staff about the use of the Royal City moniker and was told it had not been used by the city since its sesquicentennial celebrations in 2009.
Council voted 4-2 in support of a ruling by Mayor Patrick Johnstone that the motion was out of order – because it was didn’t give any new direction to staff. (The two New West Progressive councillors opposed the ruling, while the four Community First New West officials supported it.)
Fontaine said the “out of order” ruling didn’t make sense because council had no issues considering Cote’s motion in July, even though the moniker wasn’t being used at that time either.
“I think what's important for the community to hear is … nothing's going to change from our current status quo,” said Coun. Tasha Henderson. “They will not notice a change in anything without community consultation.”
Follow Theresa McManus on Twitter @TheresaMcManus
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