On Inauguration 2026, Transparency, Civility, and Good Governance

The Inaugural Meeting of your newly-elected Council took place at City Hall on November 3, 2026. Since then, I’ve answered dozens of emails, messages and texts from residents incredibly concerned by what they witnessed. A link to the video is here if you want to watch it for yourselves. If you want to skip all the ceremonial stuff and get into the speeches and the meeting, fast forward to 21:25. As of today (Nov 8), much of my speech is still missing from this video, but the City Manager tells me they are working to correct it with the complete version.

In the meantime, most of the messages I’ve received were focused on the following 3 events:

𝟏. 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐘 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐄𝐂𝐇

During my 2 minute inaugural speech, I was loudly booed by a few members in the audience. Two of them were members of the Port Moody Voice party who ran and lost in this recent election, the third was a well-known female supporter of PMV, and the fourth was a man I didn’t recognize – more about him later. The booing went on for several seconds to the point I couldn’t continue, and eventually the (new) Mayor said “we won’t be doing that” and I was able to finish speaking. Because my speech was interrupted, I am including it below.

𝟐. 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐆𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐘

Last night’s post-ceremonial agenda included New Business, as follows:

6.1 – Appointment of Signing Officers (housekeeping)

6.2 – Acting Mayor Schedule (just to the end of 2026)

6.3 - Regional Appointments

6.4 – Appointment of Port Moody Police Board Representative (Appointed: Councillor Thomasen)

6.5 – Council Advisory Body Appointments (All Committees suspended “for review”, with the exception of Finance and Land Use, which cannot be paused)

An updated agenda was handed personally to Council at approximately 4pm for us to review and ask questions. I asked why only some appointments were listed in the agenda, but not all. In particular, I noticed that 6.3 did not include the names of the intended appointees. The Mayor claimed it was an oversight, and asked the City Clerk to send us the names. At 5:15pm, we were finally handed a copy that included the names. It read as follows:

6.3 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 2026-2030 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚:

- Translink Mayors Council – Haven Lurbiecki (this appointment is always the Mayor and is a paid position)

- Metro Board of Directors – Haven Lurbiecki with Alternate Representative Amy Lubik (paid positions)

- Municipal Insurance Association – Knowles, Morrison, Chan (statutory appointment without meetings)

We had a session with IT at 5:30, then dinner, then prep for doors open at 6:30pm.

It is important to note that this Mayor ran on improving transparency at City Hall, and seeking greater input at the table. I also ran on transparency, and stated the following promise clearly on my website and campaign materials: “𝐸𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑜 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒. 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒.”

Therefore, when the Mayor moved these appointments in the meeting with no previous notice or discussion among Council, I raised my hand and said the following:

“𝐴𝑠 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑟, 𝐼 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑀𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑠𝑜 𝐼’𝑚 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦-𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑, 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛.

𝑊𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑, 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑙𝑦, 𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑.

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦, 𝑀𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑗𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑦𝑜𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑡 5:15𝑝𝑚. 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠.

𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑, 𝐼’𝑚 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙.”

There is no debate on a motion to defer, so the Mayor called the question and it failed, 4-3 (Lurbiecki, Lubik, Thomasen and Chan opposed).

Councillors Lambert and Morrison then raised their hands to speak and shared similar concerns about the motion in front of us, noting in particular that the motion was for all four years of our term when typically, these appointments are made one year at a time. Councillor Morrison also pointed out that Metro appointments, which went to Mayor Lurbiecki and Councillor Lubik, are paid positions that can be lucrative to the holders – which our new Councillors may not have realized.

Councillor Lambert called for separation so we could vote on each of the three motion clauses separately, and then Councillor Lubik moved that we amend the appointment to say 2026-2027; this passed. The Mayor then called the question on all three clauses without giving Council the opportunity to debate them separately (which led to more questions for the City Clerk), and the motion passed, 4-3 (Lambert, Morrison and Knowles opposed).

Councillors Lambert, Morrison and I have strong concerns about the way this item was handled both before and during the meeting, and I think our community should be concerned, too. This was a great loss for both good governance and transparency at our very first Council meeting.

As Port Moody’s sole representative to Metro, Mayor Lurbiecki now also has the opportunity to suggest specific Council members for appointment to additional (paid) Metro Committees. I’m very interested to know whether she will appoint herself to those committees, or whether she will bring them to Council for open discussion.

𝟯. 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗜𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

The last incident, and probably the most upsetting during the evening, is that I was verbally attacked by three people in the Galleria after the meeting ended. The tall man who admitted to booing at me, his female partner, and the other well-known Port Moody Voice supporter I mentioned earlier. All three took issue with my inaugural speech and the man began actually screaming at me at one point. When it became obvious to me that the conversation would not be civil, I asked if I needed to call security, then excused myself to walk away, at which point the man screamed after me that I must be deaf.

I’m grateful that my partner had taken my children home shortly after the meeting so they didn’t witness it. For the rest of the next hour I was there, the man followed me around the room to remain about 2 feet away from me at all times. A lovely couple noticed his behaviour and offered to accompany me everywhere I went, including down to my car when I decided to leave (thank you to them!!!). I learned later that the same couple approached Councillor Morrison at one point and began yelling at him also, demanding that he “get Kyla in line.” I’m at a loss for words. This behaviour and rhetoric is despicable. Be better.

There’s much more I could say but this post is already long enough; there will be more to come.

𝐌𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡:

Thank you so much to everyone for coming tonight to support this new Council, and in particular to everyone who supported my re-election for a second term. I felt that this year’s campaigns were generally positive and focused on the future of our beautiful community, and I want to thank all the candidates for putting their names forward – it’s a big commitment to campaign for elected office and a lot of work. I commend you all for wanting to serve Port Moody.

This election, Port Moody voters soundly rejected the introduction of organized political parties into our special community. Your new Council is made up almost entirely of independent Councillors elected to serve everyone, and I thank you for that. Port Moody is still a small community, and our residents deserve independent representatives who will serve and be accountable to everyone. I promise you will have that in me.

I will continue to insist on truth and good governance at this table, and transparency regarding Metro and Council appointments and city land acquisitions and dispositions. I intend to work hard to improve the experiences of local businesses, and to expand programming and housing options for our seniors. I have high hopes that this Council will reign in spending in key areas, and work together to support public safety, the arts, and our neighbourhood parks and natural environment.

I think the average age of this Council now skews somewhere in the late 30s, which is remarkable and exciting for Port Moody! We have a range of voices at this table for the next four years – three are beginning their second term, one is beginning her third, and the rest are fresh new voices and perspectives.

The first order of business for the 7 of us will be to develop our collective vision for the next four years during our strategic planning sessions in the coming months. I’m really looking forward to digging into that with my colleagues, and to delivering a plan that will benefit our entire community well into the future.

To you, the residents, I say, please stay engaged. Volunteer for a committee, come to public meetings and hearings, and contribute to public input. We want to hear from you. We are all better together.

To my beautiful family here tonight, thank you for your support, your burmashaving, your door-knocking, putting up with sub-par dinners, and for sacrificing our dining room table to a mess of signs, flyers and other campaign materials over these last few months. I love you all beyond words.

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On a happier note, I’m including here a picture of me with my children following both my 2022 and my 2026 inauguration – what a difference four years makes!