Recently, the New Westminster BIA and Chamber of Commerce put on the New Westminster Economic Forum – to open up the conversation about potential futures of our city's economy and how we can build prosperity. Held at the Anvil Centre, it attracted the Who's Who of our city.

Susan Millar – Local Journalism Initiative

The panel at the luncheon was central for the discussions amongst the attendees at this event. It included urban planning guru Gary Pooni, ArtsNewWest Executive-Director Laura Grady, television Actor, Kandyse McClure and Developer Navi Sivia. It was moderated by journalist Charmaine Da Silva.

Gary Pooni, a lifetime resident and the force behind the Pooni Group known nationally for it's forward thinking on urban planning, talked about the strength of the people and the community....certainly boons in these times with the economic uncertainty created by the Americans and our recent shift out of pandemic times. He also touched on the future of urbanization.

Laura Grady, Executive Director, of the NewWestArts spoke passionately for the need to support arts and culture here, which she says, are vital for our health, well-being and economic vitatlity.

Kandyse McCLure, a star of Virgin River and other major TV series, says that we really need to consider the stories that we tell ourselves about where we live, to bring us closer together.

Navi Sivia, a developer, talked about the importance of speeding housing development here, as we are, in fact, located centrally in the whole lower mainland and have more skytrain stops than any other community bar Vancouver.

For Moderator Charmaine De Silva, a relatively new transplant here, she says that while initially attracted by the housing possibilities here, she had no idea of the vibrancy of the community before coming.