Kelowna mayoral incumbent Colin Basran accuses challenger Tom Dyas of “Trump-style politics”

Kelowna mayoral candidate Tom Dyas suggests relocating City Hall and replacing the RCMP with a municipal police force.

A new city hall outside the downtown could also incorporate a fire station and a social housingcomplex, Dy as said Tuesday. The site of the current City Hall on Water Street might be redeveloped with a convention centre and a performing arts centre, Dyas proposed.

And a municipal police force might result in officers that have a better long-term attachment to Kelowna, Dyas believes.

“I believe our community has reached a critical mass and we should reassess the financial viability of forming our own independent police service,” Dyas told hundreds of people attending an election forum sponsored by the chamber of commerce.

In response, incumbent Mayor Colin Basran said tens of millions of dollars had recently been spent renovating and expanding City Hall to make it more efficient, and he questioned the sense in spending even more to build a new civic administration complex elsewhere.

“I don’t think it would be fiscally responsible for us to now to go and build a new city hall somewhere,” Basran told reporters.

However, he said he would favour looking at ways to accelerate the building of a new performing arts centre on the site of the current Kelowna Community Theatre.

Basran questioned the considerable expense involved in building a new city hall and fire hall, especially since Dyas has criticized what he describes as overspending by the municipal government.

In his closing remarks during the debate, Basran also cautioned against Kelowna voters embracing what he called a politician who espouses a form of politics developed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Making unrealistic promises and saying anything in order to garner votes, leaving it all to be figured out later with no clear vision, is not the way to run our city better,” Basran said. “This Trump-style politicking threatens to undo all the good work we’ve done together, and for what?”

Basran’s comparison of Dyas to Trump drew several audible groans from audience members. But Basran also received loud applause at the conclusion of a speech in which he pledged to build a strong local economy, help the homeless, invest in protective services, and make Kelowna an inclusive and accepting community.

Basran and Dyas had been close friends, to the point of Dyas accompanying Basran on a trip to New York City last year to celebrate the mayor’s 40th birthday.