B.C. government says more oversight coming for dysfunctional municipalities

Justin McElroy · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 10, 2025 10:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 10

The ongoing dysfunction successful the City of Kamloops has gotten truthful atrocious that the B.C. authorities is considering large changes to the oversight of feuding metropolis councils crossed the province.

"I've travel to the decision that this benignant of behaviour conscionable cannot proceed to spell connected … it is our extremity to person thing successful spot earlier the adjacent election," said Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Ravi Kahlon, responding to the latest back-and-forth accusations betwixt Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson and the remainder of city council.

"The state is going to measurement successful … truthful that we tin guarantee that section governments are serving the champion interests of their people, and not having these continuously prolonged infighting situations."

Since the 2022 section elections, a fig of B.C. municipalities — including Kamloops, Harrison Hot Springs, Lions Bay, Sayward and Sechelt — have seen the politician opposed by each oregon a bulk of council.

Accusations of inappropriate behaviour toward staff, aggregate lawsuits, wide departures of elder unit oregon outer investigations have followed, on with codification of behaviour complaints and escalating ineligible fees to resoluteness the personal disputes.

WATCH | B.C. authorities to measurement successful amid assembly dysfunction: 

There is nary mode to callback section politicians successful B.C., and determination are lone a fewer situations wherever mayors oregon councillors tin beryllium removed for ineligible reasons. The state removed the auditor wide for municipalities successful 2020, and truthful acold has rejected the Union of B.C. Municipalities' requests to appoint a provincial integrity commissioner to resoluteness disputes.

Kahlon said Kamloops was conscionable 1 of galore municipalities wherever dysfunction had sparked a alteration of heart, and implied that the strategy of hands-off quality solution could travel to an end, though helium said immoderate authorities wouldn't instrumentality effect until section elections successful October 2026.

"It undermines our democracy, undermines people's content successful the enactment that we bash to marque their lives better," helium said. 

"And it's unfortunate, but present we are and we person to instrumentality steps."

Endless investigations successful Kamloops

Kahlon's comments to CBC News were prompted by the 2 latest reports into the feud betwixt Hamer-Jackson and the remainder of metropolis hall. 

A February study to Kahlon from metropolis council, which was made nationalist this week, outlined codification of behaviour breaches, privateness breaches, investigations and lawsuits that person consumed overmuch of metropolis hallway concern and outgo the metropolis much than $1 cardinal successful ineligible fees. 

"This untenable concern has highlighted the constricted quality of existent authorities to code specified scenarios, leaving municipalities with insufficient tools to support their operations, staff, and taxpayers from the harmful and costly actions of 1 rogue elected official," the missive argued. 

The 2nd report, which was released past week, concerned Kamloops Coun. Bill Sarai secretly recording a heated statement with Hamer-Jackson successful January 2023 and denying being the root of it aft it became public. 

The probe by ineligible steadfast Young Anderson recovered Sarai had breached council's codification of behaviour and his ain oath of office. The study recommended assembly reprimand Sarai, but didn't endorse censuring oregon lowering his pay, and criticized Hamer-Jackson for not taking portion successful the investigation.

A assembly gathering connected Tuesday day volition see the report.

"We really asked Mayor Hamer-Jackson to bash precise akin things, including a missive of apology, workplace training. He refused to bash truthful … and that's going to beryllium nary antithetic from Coun. Sarai," said lawman politician Mike O'Reilly. 

"We are precise hopeful that Coun. Sarai volition perceive to what the volition of assembly is and volition supply that missive of apology and instrumentality the grooming needed."

Mayor says it's governmental deflection

In an interview, Hamer-Jackson denied immoderate issues with his enactment style, called aggregate councillors liars, and maintained that helium is the unfortunate of a witch hunt.

"The bottommost enactment is they didn't privation maine to beryllium the mayor, and they don't judge successful the antiauthoritarian process. And similar I said, this is conscionable different deflection," helium said. 

"I got unit ... saying, 'Keep going, Mr. Mayor, support going.' And the wide statement is they privation to get escaped of the councillors." 

Because of the province's timeline for action, the City of Kamloops volition person to resoluteness its ain disputes until adjacent year's local elections, including an ongoing lawsuit by Hamer-Jackson against a chap councillor, and another by the mayor's former lawyers to get him to wage his ineligible bills. 

But Kahlon made wide what helium thought astir the warring and the ineligible bills. 

"I'm hoping that we tin resoluteness these issues, but those are dollars that could person gone to infrastructure. Those are dollars that could person gone to important assemblage services," helium said.

"If I were a national of Kamloops, I would beryllium pissed."