Kamloops mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson and BC cabinet minister Ravi Kahlon speak outside Kamloops city hall on April 23, 2025.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Kamloops city council has been looking to the province to mend its dysfunction for more than a year, and it looks like help is coming.

The current council term, the first to a conduct rulebook for elected officials, has been marred by seemingly endless investigations and conflict, particularly centred around Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson.

The BC municipal affairs minister said he may be forced to intervene, and the new code of conduct legislation could be changed before voters head to the polls in municipal elections next year.

“While we haven’t finalized what changes may be needed, it’s clear that this kind of dysfunction cannot continue as it undermines public trust and the democratic process. We aim to have new measures in place before the next municipal elections, so incoming councils have a clear understanding of their responsibilities and expectations for respectful conduct," Minister Ravi Kahlon said in a written statement.

READ MORE: Kamloops council asked municipal affairs minister for help with controversial mayor

It comes after Kamloops city council published a 433-page report detailing Hamer-Jackson's conduct since the 2022 election and council's rationale to sanction him multiple times. Kahlon also recently visited Kamloops, meeting with city council but Hamer-Jackson refused to join. The mayor failed in his effort to meet with Kahlon one-on-one.

“During my visit to Kamloops, I attempted to bring the mayor and council together, but unfortunately, the mayor chose not to participate despite being present at City Hall. This situation reflects a broader challenge we're seeing in a few communities where progress is stalled due to ongoing conflict," Kahlon said.

Codes of conduct aren't required for local governments, but they have to at least consider adopting one since legislation came into effect in 2022. It offered tools to investigate politicians and sanction them, but it's largely a self-policed system and there's no way to oust another elected official.

For one Kamloops city councillor, it was a forgone conclusion the ministry would step in, considering the internal challenges over the past three years.

"How can they not, given what they've seen for the last three years?" Coun. Mike O'Reilly, who is the June deputy mayor, said.

O'Reilly referred to a recent CBC interview in which Kahlon said Kamloops residents should be "pissed" about the dysfunction and he agreed with the sentiment.

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor earns half his normal income due to imposed cuts

"They should be pissed, and I'm pissed too," he said. "This cannot go on forever."

Hamer-Jackson has been accused of numerous privacy breaches and bullying of staff at city hall, while a still-ongoing investigation is probing whether he voted on matters with which he had a conflict of interest.

Asked about Kahlon's statements, Hamer-Jackson said the ministry "better dissect" issues at city hall, taking issue with previous leaks early in his term. He raised examples like his new committee choices, a list that was released to reporters shortly after he sent it to council.

Meanwhile, he has dug in as he continues to oppose the sanctions against him and the findings that led to them.

"I feel every one of these code of conduct investigations are frivolous," Hamer-Jackson said.

Most have been dismissed, but some have ended with findings he acted in his own self-interest and breached confidentiality or privacy law, along with the code of conduct itself.

What new tools could be brought in revised legislation for the purpose of policing politicians isn't clear and the province has generally been reluctant to introduce recall methods for democratically elected leaders like mayors or councillors.

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