CIVIC ELECTION – Hamer-Jackson ponders future from a hospital bed

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson is pondering his future today from a bed at Royal Inland Hospital. He’s waiting for an opening in the cardiac unit at Kelowna General for heart surgery.

As he said today (Oct. 18, 2026), his heart “needs some renovation.”

Hamer-Jackson started feeling chest pain last Tuesday and went to RIH. Doctors confirmed it was a heart attack, and he’s been in hospital since, including a day at the hospital in Kelowna, but now he’s back at Royal Inland.

 Doctors gave him a two-hour “leave” last night to make an appearance at his campaign party.

“I’m glad I was able to do it. I wanted to thank my supporters,” he said.

The mayor admits to feeling the stress of the campaign in its last couple of weeks, especially with the dirt that was being thrown around. “Can they not think about what it does to my life, to my family?”

While he’s a little tired, he says he’s feeling OK. He said he’s had a lot of broken bones during his life but has never been on medication before now. “I’m still here.”

Despite the stress, he was feeling good about his chances right up to the finish. “I thought it was looking really good. I got tons of texts, unbelievable amounts of people contacted me on the streets and in the stores.”

But he finished in fourth place out of the six candidates for mayor, 9,687 votes behind winner Mike O’Reilly, who had 13,235, good for 44.15 per cent of the total. Nelly Dever was second with 6,969 (23.25 per cent), while Ray Dhaliwal came in third with 3,916 (13.06 per cent). Hamer-Jackson’s share was only 11.83 per cent, 3,548 votes.

“I’m fine with what happened,” he said, sounding resigned, though he thinks about what might have been. “I think about how different our city could be.”

Due to recovery time after his surgery, he likely won’t be at the current council’s final regular meeting Oct. 27, nor the inaugural for the new council Nov. 2.

Has he had time to consider what comes next after he gets back on his feet? He could probably open his car lot on Victoria Street West again though he might not run it himself, he said.

But he has a lot of debt and his main focus will be selling the property.

“We’ll see.”

In the meantime, though, he says he’s “still active and available.”