Misplaced Pages

Patrick David Johnstone is a Canadian politician and geoscientist, who is the current mayor of New Westminster, British Columbia. Prior to becoming mayor, he served two terms as a city councillor on the New Westminster City Council. He has been a member of Community First New West, a social democratic municipal political party, since 2022.

Aside from his work in local government, Johnstone also runs his blog, Ask Pat, where he writes about city council proceedings from his perspective, and responds to online questions submitted by members of the public. On occasion, Johnstone will also set up an Ask Pat booth at local gatherings where he answers questions and speaks with members of the public.

Early life and education

Patrick Johnstone is from the Kootenays region of British Columbia, where he was born and lived during his youth. He attended Simon Fraser University and completed an Bachelor of Science degree in geography in 1997, and a Master of Science degree in earth science in 2006.

According to his blog, Johnstone first arrived in New Westminster during the 1980s, and decided to live there permanently in the early 2000s.

Prior to entering politics, Johnstone worked as a project scientist for SNC-Lavalin from 2005 to 2009, and became the environmental coordinator for the City of Richmond in 2009. Jonhstone also got involved in his neighbourhood's Brow of the Hill Residents’ Association, the Royal City Curling Club, and began writing his blog. He was named New Westminster's Citizen of the Year in 2013 by the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce for his contributions to the city of New Westminster.

Political career

After many years of working for various municipalities in Metro Vancouver, Johnstone decided to enter politics by running for New Westminster City Council in 2014. On election day, he placed fifth, and was elected to city council due to the city's plurality-at-large electoral system. He was re-elected in 2018.

In 2022, Johnstone helped create Community First New West, a social democratic municipal political party in New Westminster. Johnstone subsequently won the party's nomination for the upcoming British Columbia municipal elections. In October 2022, Johnstone won the mayoral election, after receiving 41.93% of votes in a three candidate race.

Johnstone attended the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in December 2023, following an invite from the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the ICLEI to represent the City of New Westminster. His trip became the subject of a controversy, when opposing city councillors criticized Johnstone for not informing city council of his plan to attend the conference. New Westminster City Council eventually rejected the request for a report into the mayor's trip, as New Westminster did not have rules that require elected officials to disclose their travel itinerary to city council, and the trip was not funded by the city's budget. However, the the city's ethics commissioner later ruled that his trip to the conference did breach the city's ethics rules, and recommended that Johnstone receive additional ethics training.

Electoral record

2022 New Westminster municipal election: New Westminster mayor
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Community First New West	Patrick Johnstone	6,676	41.93	Y
	New West Progressives	Ken Armstrong	5,227	33.05
	Independent	Chuck Puchmayr	3,912	26.74

References

1. British Columbia New Democratic Party membership is required to be a member of Community First New West.

1. Theresa McManus (19 April 2022). "New political party to field candidates in New West civic election". New Westminster Record. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
2. Ria Renouf (16 October 2022). "Two-term councillor Patrick Johnstone is New West's mayor-elect". New West Anchor. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
3. Theresa Mcmanus (23 July 2014). "[NEWS] "Rabble-rouser" and citizen of the year Patrick Johnstone seeks seat on council". New West Record. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
4. Julie MacLellan (29 April 2022). "Community First officially out of the gate in New Westminster". New Westminster Record. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
5. Julie MacLellan (15 October 2022). "Election Night 2022: Johnstone wins New Westminster mayor's race". New West Record. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
6. Patrick Johnstone (28 December 2023). "COP28 (PART 1)". patrickjohnstone.ca. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
7. Darrian Matassa-Fung (3 January 2024). "New Westminster city councillors question mayor's trip to COP28 summit in Dubai". Global News. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
8. Janet Brown & Simon Little (22 January 2024). "New Westminster mayor defends trip to climate summit in Dubai". Global News. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
9. Theresa McManus (23 January 2024). "New West council rejects request for report from mayor on Dubai trip". New Westminster Record. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
10. Holliday, Ian (November 1, 2024). "B.C. mayor's 'luxury' trip to Dubai climate conference was against ethics rules: commissioner". CTV News. Retrieved December 25, 2024.

External links

• Official website
• Mayor Patrick Johnstone at City of New Westminster
• Patrick Johnstone at Community First New West

• Living people
• People from Castlegar, British Columbia
• Mayors of New Westminster
• New Westminster city councillors
• British Columbia New Democratic Party politicians
• 21st-century mayors of places in British Columbia
• Simon Fraser University alumni
• Canadian soil scientists
• Canadian geologists