EDITORIAL – A Conservative party on Kamloops City council? No thanks

Editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

CONSERVATIVES could be on the ballot in the next Kamloops civic election. That’s with both a small ‘c’ and a capital ‘C’.

A new party called the Conservative Electors Association has registered with Elections B.C. and plans to run candidates in at least 15 municipalities in October 2026, including Kamloops. The group says it isn’t affiliated with the provincial or federal Conservative parties, though it was registered by the former deputy director of the B.C. Conservatives.

Kelowna and Prince George are among the other cities it intends to contest. While it’s not known what sort of platform the Conservative Electors Association will come out with, we can be sure it will be…. conservative.

By the way, a party has registered as Liberal for Vancouver civic elections. That group, too, says it has no affiliation with any provincial or federal party.

See also: ARMCHAIR ARCHIVES – Civic parties have a history of failure in Kamloops

The Conservative Electors group may well cause some confusion wherever it runs, since the name will appear on ballots as ‘Conservative.’

Kamloops has had its share of civic parties over the years and, in each case, they were dismal failures. They began with lofty ambitions and loose sets of policies and soon fell apart when their members found themselves at odds with one another.

This new party may have better luck, since it will presumably adhere to policies that are more enshrined with respect to such issues as drugs, crime, homelessness and economic development similar in sentiment to conservative parties at other tiers of government.

And maybe that’s OK for Vancouver, which has run its elections on a party system for years, but in other communities, where issues tend to be on a micro level — such as zoning applications, sidewalks, potholes and the number of dogs per household — politicians need to be free to voice their opinions and cast their votes without being dictated to by parties.

In other words, they need to think of their communities first, not their allegiance to a brand.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.