Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson at an early campaign rally on July 15, 2024.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

The mayor of Kamloops brought reporters and supporters to a press conference Monday morning under the pretense that he had considered resigning. It turned into a campaign rally, two years early, where he played fast and loose with the truth.

He was misleading on multiple counts as he spoke to his crowd of supporters at the Columbia Street lookout spot, cheering as he asserted his unwillingness to leave the mayor's chair months after a call for his resignation.

During his address, Hamer-Jackson falsely claimed credit for work on local healthcare, made a heel turn on a matter he voted on just weeks earlier, and obfuscated his role in council committees. He also told a journalist to leave the event, then backtracked on the demand when asked immediately after.

As the crowd gathered for the 10 a.m. rally, Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson was shaking hands with supporters that surrounded him in the parking lot. They weren't sure what to expect from him. He kept everyone in suspense after his Friday claim the event it was for "resignation/consideration."

He was met with an eruption of cheers from the crowd when he borrowed a page from Leonardo DiCaprio's Wolf of Wall Street performance, announcing he wouldn't be leaving city hall, then added he plans to run again in the 2026 election.

READ MORE: iN VIDEO: Kamloops Mayor Hamer-Jackson 'never really' considered resigning

Questioned about when and for how long he pondered quitting his role, he admitted it was never on the table.

"I guess I never really considered it. Then with the support of emails and texts and stuff that I've got, it's been really good," he said.

Reading a prepared statement and backed by his wife and son, Hamer-Jackson made several comments about his record on council.

One was a claim that he brought Interior Health complex care facilities to Kamloops.

"I got more done outside of council like when I picked up the phone and called... the CEO of Interior Health to get complex care beds going. I didn't present that to council, they were on the shelf for 18 months," he said at the event.

But that was work that started long before he was elected with the previous council's advocacy and a commitment from the province to place 20 beds in Kamloops. Interior Health did consult with City staff and there were some concerns about the model and the locations, but the work never stopped.

What he did was meet separately with city staff and Interior Health's CEO Susan Brown at the beginning of his term. He learned that complex care beds would be open in the city soon. Before his first month in office was up he made the announcement before Interior Health could do it.

It's not clear whether he mistakenly believes the job was his doing or whether he is deliberately taking credit for an initiative that took many months of work from health authority and city staff.

He also accused council of both doing very little work in their five committees but also stacking committee advisory boards with their own supporters. The claim is unproven, but he went on to say he is supposed to be involved in each of those committees while not included on a single one.

"Isn't it true that the mayor should be on every committee and every board that belongs to this city?" a supporter chimed in at the Monday rally.

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor gets booted from regional district, airport society

"That's what I was told from the beginning," Hamer-Jackson said.

Aside from the fact that he's not required to be included on any committee, he also neglected to mention the fact he refused to take part in any of the five council committees despite direct invitations to sit on at least one of them. He later told iNFOnews.ca that he meant to say he's allowed to watch the committee meetings from the audience if he chooses.

While the event contained very few new announcements related to current city business, there were rumours at city hall that he intended to use the news conference to announce his opposition to a counter petition process over funding for a new ice rink and the performing arts centre. Although he made no mention of the issue on his own accord, he addressed his newly-announced opposition when reporters asked about the $275 million loan.

Last month he voted alongside councillors giving unanimous approval to go ahead with an alternate approval process rather than a referendum. It means the City will go ahead with the loan unless at least 10 per cent of the electorate sign a counter petition, potentially forcing a referendum.

Despite voting in favour, he told his supporters he "still" may bring the matter back for council to reconsider. He claimed he had "new information" on the matter when asked at the event.

But there were no new details on the matter that weren't available for council to consider. Hamer-Jackson heard from residents who were opposed to the counter petition model and he changed his mind after casting the vote.

During his speech, Hamer-Jackson added what amounted to a footnote while addressing his crowd of supporters. He first lamented being "misrepresented by various media" then said he was "also physically assaulted." While not necessarily untrue or misleading, it's impossible to verify but amounted to a serious claim without anymore information.

Physical violence against an elected official is something that is generally met with concern in a democratic society, but Hamer-Jackson's claim got almost no attention even from his crowd of supporters. It was met with a small "wow" as he continued on his speech.

"I just don't want to talk about it," he said when asked about the alleged assault, suggesting a police investigation precludes his comment. His supporters shouted down a follow up question for any details on the incident.

He would only say that it occurred in June, then he later told iNFOnews.ca someone poured beer over his head, but he said he didn't know the person.

READ MORE: How to protect yourself and your family during the southern Interior heat wave

Kamloops RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Crystal Evelyn refused to provide any information on the investigation, only confirming that it was reported.

Although it's still early in the investigation and it's not clear how much, if anything, police have discovered, it's not the first time a BC mayor has claimed to be the victim of political violence in recent years.

In 2021 then-Surrey mayor Doug McCallum was accused of lying to police after claiming a political opponent intentionally drove over his foot. He was found not guilty of public mischief.

The climax and final chapter of the rally came when Hamer-Jackson told a journalist, Brett Mineer of Radio NL, to leave the event. He quickly backtracked when called on it and claimed that wasn't what he said.

It was during the news scrum following the mayor's speech after Mineer started to get heckled from the crowd. The radio host, keeping close to the mayor in the crowded scrum, was holding a microphone to the mayor as the crowd and the mayor demanded he step back.

"This is Brett Mineer from Radio NL and the reason he showed up is because he heard the word 'resignation,'" Hamer-Jackson said as the crowd's heckling increased.

Mineer, and other reporters, remained there as he reminded the mayor he called a news conference so journalists showed up.

"Yeah but not for you, Brett. I couldn't believe you showed up. You're bad for this community," Hamer-Jackson said. "Everybody wants you to leave, Brett, so why don't you just leave."

The confrontation encouraged the crowd to chant "Brett go home." The mayor, when asked if he was removing a journalist, quickly backtracked and again asked Mineer to move backward.

When confronted later about the exchange, he initially claimed it was only the crowd that told Mineer to leave, but the exchange was recorded on a Castanet livestream of the event.

"Oh, jeez, sorry about that," the mayor said.

The Monday campaign rally isn't the first time Hamer-Jackson has been careless with the truth. Earlier this year he announced a "service extension" to BC Ambulance in Kamloops. He later refused to provide anymore details and said BC Ambulance Service would do so when it was ready.

He made the claim during a council meeting, much like the time he scooped Interior Health on its complex care announcement, only this time it wasn't true. There was no new service for Kamloops. The ambulance service instead pointed to a rural expansion it announced months earlier.

He also breached the City's own code of conduct with misleading public statements, according to an investigation launched last year.

"The investigator found that the mayor's evidence was inconsistent and not credible," a City report reads.

Whatever he said that led to the investigation hasn't been made public, but there was no evidence to suggest they were "true and not misleading."

Read more of our Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson coverage here.

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