EDITORIAL – A true slate election looks more and more unlikely for Kamloops

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

THE CLOSER WE GET to this autumn’s municipal election, the less likely it gets that we’ll have a battle of slates. When Pivot Kamloops was formed and announced, there was speculation that the BC Conservatives would toss their hats in the ring with a slate of their own.

That hasn’t happened, and time grows short. The party has been bragging about how well its candidates are doing down on the Coast. In a news release today (July 14, 2026), the Conservatives say their slate leads in Richmond by 11 points over its nearest competitor, RITE (Richmond Independent Team of Electors).

It also says its mayoral candidate, Sheldon Starrett, sits at 11.3 per cent, second behind independent Kash Heed who has 20. Others trail far behind.

The authority for this is a telephone poll taken for the party in June by Pallas Data, a Toronto-based market research firm.

At any rate, one would think if the Conservatives were going to run candidates in Kamloops they would be actively doing it by now. So that leaves the field to Pivot Kamloops and a whole bunch of independent candidates. Pivot isn’t even a traditional slate in that its four candidates have widely divergent political backgrounds, its policies are (so far at least) very general, and the group’s council votes wouldn’t be whipped.

This situation isn’t likely to disappoint very many people, since the concept of party politics in municipal elections has never been hugely popular in these parts.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, writes for the Kamloops Chronicle and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and was 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.