TheNew West Progressives (NWP) are aconservative political party that contests municipal elections in the city ofNew Westminster, British Columbia. The party's name is not a reference to the political principles ofprogressivism, but rather their position as the primary opposition to a dominant trend ofsocial democratic governance in 2010s New Westminster.^[1][2] The party does not have any formal affiliations with other political parties at the municipal, provincial, or federal level. They were the first municipal political party to be formed in New Westminster.

The New West Progressives were founded in 2017 as theNew Westminster Progressive Electors Coalition, in preparation for the2018 British Columbia municipal elections. The party was formed in response to a perceived lack of ideological diversity in city council, as the mayor and every councillor elected for the 2014–2018 term shared similar beliefs, and were all endorsed by the New Westminster and District Labour Council, an affiliate of theCanadian Labour Congress.^[1]

During their campaign, the party was criticized for using terminology and anorange colour scheme more commonly associated withleft-wing politics in Canada, and were accused by members of the community for trying to trick voters into voting for a more conservative platform.^[2][3] In the party's first election, they did not nominate a candidate for the mayoral election, and instead focused on the city council and school board elections.^[1] In their first election, their top candidate for city council,Daniel Fontaine, received 5,297 votes, but ultimately finished seventh and was not elected. Danielle Connelly, a NWP candidate for the school board, placed sixth in the election after receiving 5,626 votes, and became the first member of the party to hold an elected position in New Westminster.

Prior to the2022 general election, the party began a stronger campaign and nominated a mayoral candidate, Ken Armstrong, for the first time. They also switched their campaign colours from orange to green and purple. Unlike 2018, the NWP were no longer the only political party in New Westminster, following the establishment of theCommunity First New West political party by several of the social democratic candidates, many of which were incumbent councillors and school board trustees.^[4] The New West Progressives were ultimately unsuccessful in the mayoral election, with Armstrong losing toPatrick Johnstone by 1,449 votes.^[5] However, they were able to elect two candidates as city councillors, with Paul Minhas and Daniel Fontaine placing fifth and sixth respectively.^[6] Fontaine's electoral victory made him the first knownMétis andIndigenous member of the New Westminster City Council.^[7] Connelly retained her seat as the sole NWP party member on the school board.^[6]

On September 18, 2025, the party nominated Daniel Fontaine as their mayoral candidate for the upcoming2026 British Columbia municipal elections.^[8]

Date	Type	Candidate	%	Result	Status[n 2]
February 3, 2024	School board	Kathleen Carlsen	41.24	Won	Opposition

Notes

Sources

• Official website

• Municipal political parties in New Westminster
• Conservative parties in Canada
• 2017 establishments in British Columbia
• Political parties established in 2017
• Cultural conservative parties

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use Canadian English from January 2024
• All Wikipedia articles written in Canadian English
• Articles with hCards