Tom Dyas - 'Best mayor of Kelowna in 10 years'

Here was Tom Dyas' criticism of Colin Basran from September 2022.

“Kelowna’s taxpayers deserve to have their hard-earned money respected and used for the betterment of our community not to promote the image and personality of their Mayor.” “As Kelowna’s next Mayor I will commit to banning all City of Kelowna advertising spend not related to public safety, community engagement and consultation, or required advertising by upper levels of government,” Dyas said. Uncle Tom then got an 'Office of the Mayor' with its own staff. A Chief of Staff, Communications, and Policy Advisors are costing taxpayers a fortune. He has someone to write all his speeches and press releases, his online presence, and to shoot videos of him.

“I am running to be Kelowna’s next Mayor because I can see so many of the critical issues facing our city failing to be addressed, not because I want to boost my own image.” Tom Dyas ... “commit(ted) to hiring an external third-party to undertake a line-by-line audit of the City’s finances." “Over the last eight years property taxes have increased 30% and development charges have increased by tens of thousands of dollars — yet we haven’t seen drastic improvements to infrastructure or services as a result,” he said. Mayor Tom has averaged 4.28% yearly tax increases. Basran’s last four years averaged 3.99%. The Kelowna city budget went up 16.8% from $777 million in Tom Tom’s first year to $908 million in 2025. The preliminary 2026 Budget is $1.05 billion.

Dyas acknowledged the rising unemployment figure of 7% in Kelowna, the highest it's been in three years. Unemployment then reached 11% in November 2025, (9.3% in October) which is the highest in Canada.

Kelowna's cost of living is exorbitant, with a single person needing $3,700 - $4,000/month and potentially a $75k+ annual income. This is being driven by rising rents and home prices.