2026 Municipal Election
Climate Report Card
Organized by members of the New Westminster Climate Action Hub (NWCAH), the report card rates all candidates based on climate change/action issues. This provides time-strapped voters with a quick way to determine which candidate will build upon New Westminster’s reputation as “the little city that could” when it comes to addressing the climate emergency.
The report card can be downloaded as an image file or as a PDF. The long-form report explains our scoring and gives all the answers we received from candidates, and can be downloaded as a PDF.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did you contact the candidates?
We emailed candidates from Community First and the New West Progressives in July 2026; we provided them with the questionnaire and asked for a response within 30 days. Geoff Homel was emailed in September 2026, after we became aware of his candidacy. All candidates were invited to submit written responses, or to arrange for an in-person interview.
Responses were received from all seven Community First candidates, as well as Geoff Homel.
The New West Progressives, through their communications spokesperson, declined to respond and pointed at their published platform instead.
A full timeline of contact with the candidates is included in the long-form report.
What questions did you ask?
Here are the questions we sent to candidates:
- Climate change is recognized as the 21st century’s biggest threat to human health and the economy. How will you provide leadership in moving our municipality towards meaningful climate action?
- New West is one of the few BC cities that has its own electrical utility. How would you use this to drive climate solutions for the community? How would you support the development of local solar, distributed energy, energy storage, and smart-grid technologies?
- What local climate actions or programs do you think have made the biggest positive impact so far? How can the City expand on these successes to bring greater environmental and economic benefits to residents?
- The 2021 heat dome, which killed 33 people in New Westminster, showed that affordable cooling is just as critical for New Westminster as affordable heating. How can the City help residents and landlords transition to efficient electric heating and cooling? How would you ensure these upgrades remain affordable and accessible to all households?
- Burning fossil fuels like liquefied natural gas (LNG) cause major health and safety issues. Also, methane from LNG is one of the largest contributors to rising temperatures. Do you support our provincial government’s expansion of LNG fracking and exports?
- How should New Westminster plan for a future with more shared, electric, and active transport? What role will you take in preparing our city for this future?
- How can the clean energy transition create new local jobs and business opportunities in New Westminster? What steps can the City take to help residents and small businesses participate in this new energy economy?
- How can the City best engage residents including youth in understanding — and benefiting from — the transition to clean energy? What approaches would you use to make climate action feel local, practical, and rewarding?
How did you score the candidates?
Our approach was modeled after our school system’s approach to evaluation. Each answer was assessed against the following criteria:
- Does the candidate show support for current measures being taken by the city, or specific, plausible and well-funded alternatives?
- Does their answer match previous behaviour (public statements, voting record where applicable)?
Assessments were based on:
- Questionnaire responses, where received
- Party platforms
- Previous statements in the public record
- For incumbents: past voting record and statements at city council meetings and workshops
How did you score candidates who didn’t respond?
As noted above, the New West Progressives declined to respond to the questionnaire and pointed to their published platform instead. To provide information to voters, candidate assessments were based on:
- an assessment of the party platform as of September 19, 2026
- an assessment of the public statements and voting records of the two incumbent candidates
- an assessment of any public statements available for the five non-incumbent candidates
Because the platform did not address all of the questions in our questionnaire, the final grade for New West Progressive candidates was “I” for incomplete.
See the long-form report for full details, including:
- Our assessment of each candidate on each question
- citations for previous statements, party platforms and voting records
- the full responses we received to our questionnaire
Who are you endorsing?
The NWCAH does not endorse a particular candidate or party in this election. Our goal is to advocate for climate action.
In this report we present our evaluation of what candidates have said and done, and the plans they have announced. We leave it to voters to decide.
How did you compile the questions?
Our list of questions was drafted collaboratively by a team of Hub members. Our goal was to highlight the impact of climate within New Westminster, the causes of climate change – both within the city limits and outside – and to elicit plans for action from candidates for city council and mayor.