𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰—𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐛𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥

City of Kamloops administration and Council are now blaming the 2024 Alternative Approval Process (AAP) court challenge for delays in borrowing approval for the Tranquille sewer upgrade and McMaster Way land purchase projects.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲.

In the summer of 2024, the City brought forward $275M in borrowing for arts and recreation projects—a performing arts centre (PAC) and a Multiplex—through an AAP process rather than a referendum.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞—𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 $𝟐𝟎𝟎𝐌 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭—including a new RCMP building, identified as a “𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝” in 2023.

Arts and recreation projects were prioritized over critical infrastructure.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞.

As for the McMaster and Tranquille delays, the City created its own bottleneck through how they structured the borrowing and sequencing.

These projects require AAP approval to move costs into long-term borrowing—but the City tied the timing to the RCMP AAP, which has not yet moved forward due to the postal strike.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞:

Residents were asked to approve $275M in arts and recreation 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒

But were not told about $200M in infrastructure 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒

𝐅𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭.

𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:

𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 $𝟐𝟎𝟎𝐌?

*The legal petition was filed October 22, 2024 and dismissed February 21, 2025—a four-month delay, not eight as claimed by Councillor Hall at the March 24, 2026 council meeting.

*The 2024 AAP legal challenge was brought forward by KCU co-organizer Kathrine Wunderlich on behalf of residents who believed the City should have used a referendum rather than an unfamiliar AAP reverse-voting process to seek approval for $275 million in borrowing for the PAC and Multiplex.

Kathrine has been open about her intention to run for Council in the October 2026 municipal election.

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞:

As always, if the City of Kamloops believes any part of this information is factually incorrect, we welcome clarification by email.

More info and sources below.