 Howard volunteered with the Richmond Minor Hockey Association for over 12 years , and was active with Tourism Richmond , the Richmond Chamber of Commerce , and the Real Estate Institute of BC . While his mother had served as an <unk> on the Richmond City Council , Howard 's political career began with a civic bylaw election in October 2001 . Howard , belonging to the civic political party Richmond Non @-@ Partisan Association , was elected to one of the three available seats on the Richmond City Council . After less than a year on council , Howard left the Richmond Non @-@ Partisan Association to join a new pro @-@ business political party , Richmond First , which he saw as being less controlling and allowing him to make more independent decisions . He was re @-@ elected in the November 2002 civic election , with his Richmond First party taking four of the eight council seats . 
