Dyas takes on Basran
Kelowna mayor’s chum to challenge him for top seat on council this fall
Close friends have turned political foes as Kelowna businessman Tom Dyas aims to defeat Mayor Colin Basran in next month’s civic election.
Saying there’s a lack of strong leadership at City Hall, Dyas launched his mayoral bid Wednesday before a group of about 50 people at a Rutland park.
“I believe we can do better,” said Dyas, a two-term chamber of commerce president. “I believe there has been a lack of transparency and accountability with the people of Kelowna.” Dyas said his platform would address social problems in the downtown core, homelessness, traffic congestion and infrastructure issues. He also criticized a 16 per cent municipal tax hike since Basran became mayor in 2014.
“Many people find that level of taxation over four years unacceptable,” said Dyas, owner of a brokerage firm that sells employee group benefits and life insurance.
Dyas has been a friend of Basran’s for three years and went to New York City with him in November 2017 to celebrate the mayor’s 40th birthday.
But Dyas said he has recently decided the city needs to change direction on several key issues, and he presented himself as a mayor who would have “stronger discussions” on files like homelessness and public disorder.
“In order to get direct results on the issues, you need to have leadership,” Dyas said.
As recently as a few weeks ago, Dyas and Basran were working together on a bid by the Kelowna Rockets to host the 2020 Memorial Cup junior hockey championship.
Dyas said he told Basran then he would likely run for mayor. Asked for Basran’s reaction, Dyas said: “He was a little taken aback, I suspect.”
But Dyas said he still considers himself to be a friend of Basran’s, despite tying to take the mayor’s job away from him.
“I’m not (trying to) make him unemployed,” Dyas said. “What we’re doing, as I’ve said, and I’m pretty certain, is most of the community wanted good, solid discussion of the issues (in the election campaign).
“They didn’t want someone to get acclaimed,” Dyas said. “Colin has a strong platform and a good team. He will go about doing what he is going to do . . . . It will be up to the individuals who vote to decide which direction it goes.”
“I hope to always consider him a friend — that is the idea,” Dyas said. “Does this change how that relationship works? For certain. That’s not rocket science.”
In remarks to his supporters, Dyas described himself as a single parent to three adult children who was at a “turning point” in his life and business career. He said he now had the time and determination to serve the community in a political role.
“I believe most of us are in search of a strong leader with a proven track record of success,” Dyas told the crowd, which included former Conservative MP Ron Cannan, former city councillor and fire chief Gerry Zimmermann, as well as Al Horning, who has been a city councillor, MLA and MP.
Raghwa Gopal, the chief executive officer of Accelerate Okanagan, which works to expand the region’s high-tech community, said he was “very excited” by Dyas’s candidacy for mayor.
Sukhpaul Bal, whose farming family has challenged various city regulations over the years, also endorsed Dyas, praising him as a man who understands small businesses: “This community runs on small businesses. We need somebody who looks at small businesses and supports them.”
While former mayor Walter Gray was in the crowd and his presence was noted by Laura Thurnheer, a college instructor who served as the campaign kickoff’s master of ceremonies, Gray said later he hadn’t decided whether he would vote for Basran or Dyas on Oct. 20.
“I’m simply following the municipal election cycle,” Gray said. “I was at Colin Basran’s reelection announcement, too.”