Episode 107: Exclusive interviews with Karima Budhwani & Rick Folka, Budget 2026, False Accusations of Lying + more!

December 13, 2025

Episode 107: Exclusive interviews with Karima Budhwani & Rick Folka, Budget 2026, False Accusations of Lying + more!

🎙️ NEW EPISODE! For the Record – Episode 107

Two Exclusive NWP Candidate Interviews, Budget Battles & a Heated Council Moment

This week’s episode of For the Record with Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas features two exclusive interviews, a deep dive into the 2026 budget debate, and a preview of the much-anticipated Top 10 New West Political Stories vodcast.

🗳️ Exclusive Interview: Karima Budhwani

The episode opens with an in-depth, exclusive conversation between Daniel Fontaine and Karima Budhwani – former NWP president and past council candidate.

Karima discusses:

Why she has decided to run again
The issues she’s most passionate about in New Westminster
Her perspective on community leadership and the road to the 2026 civic election

It’s a thoughtful and candid discussion about values, priorities, and the future of the city.

🗳️ Exclusive Interview: Rick Folka

Next, Fontaine sits down with Rick Folka, another newly announced council candidate who also ran in the 2022 civic election.

Rick shares:

What motivated him to put his name forward again in 2026
The challenges he sees facing New Westminster
What excites him about the upcoming campaign and community engagement

💰 Budget 2026: Cutting $1.5M to Ease the Tax Burden

The conversation then turns to the 2026 budget, where Councillors Fontaine and Minhas introduce a motion to trim $1.5 million from city spending in an effort to ease what is shaping up to be a record property tax increase.

New Westminster is now on track to potentially hold the highest cumulative property tax increase in Metro Vancouver over a four-year term – exceeding 30%.

🔥 Mayor’s Council Outburst

The podcast features an excerpt from a heated moment at City Hall, where Mayor Patrick Johnstone falsely but publicly accuses Daniel Fontaine of lying about tax increases. The exchange is played in full, allowing listeners to hear exactly what was said on the council floor.

🔟 Top 10 New West Stories Vodcast Preview

To close the episode, Fontaine and Minhas preview their annual Top 10 Civic & Political Stories vodcast, recorded once a year.

Stories likely to make the list include:

The London Street bike lane controversy
Safety upgrades at 6th Avenue & 2nd Street
Nearly 30% property tax increases over four years
Costco traffic chaos in Queensborough
Liberal Jake Sawatzky defeating NDP Peter Julian in the federal election

🎧 For the Record is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.

📣 If you enjoy the podcast, please share this episode with friends, family, and neighbours — community conversations matter.

December 7, 2025

Episode 106: Police Budget Approval, Zach is Back, Flashlight Consultations, Nearly 30% Tax Increases, Deja Vu x Two and much more!!

🎄 NEW EPISODE! For the Record

Police Budget Drama, Parking Battles, Flashlights at City Hall & a 30% Tax Increase?

This week’s For the Record features a festive pre-Christmas theme – but the topics are anything but quiet.

🚔 1. Police Budget Passes 5–1: A Closer Look

The episode opens with a detailed breakdown of the 2025 NW Police Department budget vote. The budget passed 5–1, but had Councillors Fontaine and Minhas voted no, the result would have been a 3–3 tie – meaning the police budget would have failed, as Councillor Ruby Campbell was not present.

The podcast shares:

🎙️ Coun. Nakagawa’s remarks, after she voted against the budget
🎙️ Mayor Johnstone’s comments claiming he has always supported police budgets
👮 The Chief of Police’s concerns about a decade of underfunding

With policing as the largest line item in the city budget, the discussion raises important questions about priorities and public safety.

🚗 2. “Zach Is Back”: Parking Chaos on 13th Street

Listeners hear a compelling five-minute presentation from Danielle and Zach, landlords who renovated their apartment building at 13th Street and 7th Avenue.

They request more time to meet the city’s compliance deadlines and highlight the severe impact of losing up to 50% of on-street parking, which would directly affect their tenants.

Both councillors note that Fontaine, Minhas, Campbell, and the Mayor visited the building to see conditions firsthand. The saga continues – and the podcast is following closely.

🔦 3. Queen’s Park Consultation… Bring a Flashlight?

What do a flashlight, winter coat, and umbrella have in common?

According to Gail North, President of the Queen’s Park Residents’ Association – they might have been needed at a recent city consultation event.

Held outdoors on the porch of Irving House between 3–5 PM, the session grew darker by the minute as the sun set at 4:19 PM. Space was limited, some residents stood outside, and the setup left many puzzled.

Fontaine has requested clarity from staff on whether porch consultations are considered “standard practice.”

💸 4. Operating Budget = 5.6% Tax Increase (and Nearly 30% in Four Years)

The city’s operating budget now comes in at:

4.6% base increase, plus
1% capital levy

Total: 5.6% increase for 2025, bringing New Westminster to nearly 30% in cumulative tax increases over four years – likely the highest in Metro Vancouver during this term of council.

The discussion highlights affordability concerns for residents, seniors, families, and businesses.

🕰️ 5. Déjà Vu: Century House Hours Return… Again

Coun. Ruby Campbell is now proposing the reopening of Century House on Sundays – raising questions about:

Who cut Sunday hours originally?
Why have they not been restored until now?
How does this relate to Fontaine’s earlier motion calling for a similar review back in 2023?

As the councillors note: It’s déjà vu all over again.

❄️ 6. ACORN Presents on Air Conditioner Access

ACORN advocates for a program enabling low-income residents to install air conditioners.

Fontaine reminds listeners that he previously proposed a $500 AC grant through the Electrical Utility – a low-barrier idea that was rejected after referral.

🎄 7. Around Town: Community Spirit on Full Display

This week’s “around town” segment features highlights from:

The Sapperton Pensioners Hall Christmas Party
The West End Residents Association meeting
A business association gathering in Sapperton
The Hyack Annual Christmas Event
The launch of the new Freshet Newspaper, now printing citywide

🔟 8. Top 10 New West Stories Preview & Holiday Break

The popular “Top 10 New West Stories” vodcast is coming soon, and listeners are invited to help shape the list.

The podcast will take a short Christmas break after December 19, returning in early January.

🎧 For the Record is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.

📢 If you enjoy the show, please share this episode with neighbours, friends, and family. Community engagement matters more than ever.

December 2, 2025

OPINION: Metro Vancouver Costs Soaring While Families Pay the Price by Coun. Daniel Fontaine, ICD.D

Metro Vancouver households are staring down tax bills that will nearly double in just a decade – and the region’s own numbers prove it. Sadly, we’re already more than halfway there.

Annual spending at Metro Vancouver is set to climb from $894 million in 2020 to $1.57 billion in 2026, and to more than $2.2 billion by 2030. That’s a 150 per cent increase in only ten years. These are Crown corporation–sized expenditures – and many billions more in capital work – but without the oversight British Columbians would expect for spending of this magnitude.

For families, the impact is direct: average annual household charges will jump from $560 in 2020 to $1,070 by 2030. On the North Shore, where the wastewater treatment plant fiasco has already driven costs sky-high, the average bill could hit $1,741 a year. These aren’t abstract figures buried in a budget. They’re real dollars, pulled from after-tax paycheques at a time when families are already struggling with affordability issues.

Population growth over the same period is projected at only 20 per cent. That mismatch tells the story: Metro Vancouver is growing its budget far faster than its population and households are left holding the bag.

The problem isn’t just unchecked expenditures. It’s the failure to consider long-term affordability and the absence of politically accountable oversight for an organization that now manages multi-billion-dollar capital projects. When projects go off the rails, as the North Shore wastewater plant has, families are left footing the bill. Without stronger guardrails, history will repeat itself.

To be fair, there have been some improvements – but they’ve come only after intense media scrutiny and very late in the game. It’s like trying to stop a fully loaded tanker already at full speed. The slight course correction is welcome, but it underscores governance and scope concerns that have been raised for years.

Metro Vancouver has evolved from a basic regional utility into something much larger: a sprawling bureaucracy that now dabbles in housing, economic development, and park operations. It’s an empire with Crown-sized budgets but little of the oversight or media scrutiny that provincial Crown corporations face. That needs to change.

The Province of British Columbia should put the question of an elected Metro Vancouver Board directly to voters during the 2026 civic election. Residents deserve a say in whether they want to continue with a structure where local appointees make billion-dollar decisions with minimal transparency, or move toward a directly elected body that answers to the public.

A much smaller and elected board – in place for the 2030 civic election – would bring more accountability and legitimacy to an organization that has simply grown too large and too powerful to remain insulated from voter oversight.

In the meantime, the Province can take practical steps to tighten accountability. BC’s auditor general should be given legislative authority to conduct value-for-money audits of Metro Vancouver’s operations. If the board remains unelected, mandatory external reviews of major capital projects before approval would help prevent another North Shore–style financial disaster.

Metro Vancouver’s mandate should also be narrowed back to its core utilities – water, liquid waste, and solid waste. These are the essential services families rely on every day. Straying into broader initiatives risks diluting focus and driving up costs. Residents expect reliable services, not empire building.

None of these proposals are radical. They’re practical measures to restore accountability and rebuild public trust.

Families across the region can’t afford another decade of runaway budgets, opaque governance, and financial surprises. Metro Vancouver must prove it can deliver essential services efficiently, transparently, and affordably or voters should be given the opportunity to elect those who will.