The Progressives went from two councillors and one school board trustee in the last election to the mayor, five councillors and six trustees in all three races.

The New Westminster Progressives party’s win of the mayor’s office and near sweep of council and school board was celebrated by a raucous crowd at an after party that had to be shushed several times so they could get through all the victory speeches.

“Wow, we elected a lot of people,” said the emcee at one point as she called yet another winner to the podium.

In the last election, the Progressives won two council seats and one seat on the school board. Now, the party will be represented by the mayor, five councillors and six trustees.

Daniel Fontaine led his party with a resounding win over incumbent mayor Patrick Johnstone with 2,233 more votes.

Johnstone’s party, Community First New Westminster, had controlled four of six seats on council and six of the seven trustee positions.

But the writing appeared to be on the wall early on election night for Johnstone. He and his small group of supporters were loudly and excitedly chatting while waiting for the results to appear on screen at the City Hall chambers after the polls closed.

After advance polls were posted, with four of 23 polls showing Johnstone and almost every Community First candidate trailing, the room became quiet.

It stayed that way for several minutes until Johnstone broke the silence with an attempt at lightheartedness: “What happened to all the banter?”

With more polls continuing the pattern of the Progressives holding all top spots, Johnstone said he was “a little disappointed.”

“I thought we ran a good campaign and we’re really proud of the work we did over the past four years, so I’m a little surprised,” said an emotional Johnstone.

“Many people said we simply couldn’t beat the machine, but we proved them all wrong,” Fontaine told his supporters in his victory speech at the Inn at the Quay.

Fontaine, a Métis from southern Manitoba who is the city’s first Indigenous mayor, pledged in his victory speech to build a “more economically vibrant city” and to spend on housing affordability, public safety, parks and recreation facilities and infrastructure, while keeping tax increases to within inflation.

Progressives elected to council were Ken Armstrong — who placed second to Johnstone in the mayoral race in 2022 — Paul Minhas, Richard Folka, Maryann Morrison and Karima Budhwani, with votes of 11,607 for Armstrong and 9,770 for Budhwani. Ray Porcellato was the only Progressives candidate not elected.

The Community First council candidates garnered more than 8,000 or 9,000 votes each, despite finishing behind the Progressives, indicating a closer race than the results showed.

On the school board, Progressives included Danielle Connelly, Kathleen Carlsen, Anita Dunn, Lucas Steele, Donald Doyle and Liz Fajber. The Community First trustees had more than 9,000 votes each.

In his speech, Fontaine thanked Johnstone for his service and said he would operate a non-partisan city hall and serve those who voted for him, those who did not, and those who didn’t vote at all.

Fontaine’s next challenge “is going to keep the people who voted for him happy” because voters will expect change,” said Sam Schechter, a Douglas College communications professor with an interest in local politics.

He said before the election that the downtown core was a key issue in the campaign.

The main downtown strip, Columbia Street, which decades ago had its own Eaton’s, Kresge’s and Woolworth’s department stores that drew shoppers from Burnaby, Coquitlam and Vancouver, has long suffered from a lack of commercial vibrancy.

Voter Emma Nightingale said she has a daughter, “so everything about schools is important for me.”

Melanie Luchkow and Alex O’Neill said affordable housing for everyone is the issue they focused on when deciding how to cast their vote.

“Making sure there is inclusivity for everyone who lives in New West,” said Luchkow.

The city, at about 15 square kilometres in size with a population of 78,916, according to the 2021 Statistics Canada census, is the 17th most populous municipality in B.C. It has grown 11 per cent since 2016.

About half the population is of European descent, 14 per cent East Asian, 10 per cent each South Asian and southeast Asian, with African, Latin American, Indigenous and Middle Eastern residents, each at about three per cent, make up the rest.

Almost half of the population has no religion, while about 40 per cent identify as Christian, with Sikhism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Indigenous spirituality at between five per cent to less than one per cent each, making up the rest.

The average age is young, with those of working age, between 15 and 64, making up about 71 per cent of the population, higher than the national average of 65 per cent.

Meanwhile, those 65-plus make up about 15 per cent of the whole, below the national average of 19 per cent, while those 14-and-under make up the remaining 12 per cent or so.

New Westminster, named after the area of London that houses England’s Parliament, was chosen as the capital of the colony of British Columbia by Queen Victoria in 1858, and remained the capital for about seven years, until legislators moved it to Victoria.

Examples of late 19th and early 20th century buildings, many built after the Great Fire of 1898, remain in the downtown core.

The completion of Highway 1 in 1964, which bypasses the city to the north, and the end in 1950 of the railway that ran from Vancouver to Chilliwack, both contributed to the eventual commercial death of the downtown, once known as the Golden Mile.

The retail hub moved north several blocks to an indoor mall. The city has in recent years developed its waterfront with a seawall and other developments, including condo towers.

The city’s commercial areas include the Quay and Waterfront districts, River Market and Pier West development near the quay.