Ray Dhaliwal is one of five candidates running for mayor of Kamloops (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

RAY DHALIWAL

CANDIDATE PROFILE: Dhaliwal wants focus back on regular citizens of Kamloops

Oct 3, 2022 | 4:34 PM

The Kamloops civic election is Oct. 15. All this week, CFJC Today will introduce you to the five candidates running for mayor. It’s the most mayoral candidates on a regular civic election ballot since 1990 when there were 10. Chad Klassen introduces us to candidate Ray Dhaliwal.

KAMLOOPS — In his first run at the mayor’s chair, one of Ray Dhaliwal’s top priorities is affordable and attainable housing for everyone in Kamloops, especially with rising costs and interest rates.

“People are going to be losing their houses, their rents are going up too, so they’re going to be out on the street if we don’t do something quickly,” he told CFJC Today. “We need to work with our bylaw department, we need to work with our building department to create more housing on the same footprint.”

Dhaliwal says he wants to focus on improving the lives of the average citizen and not focusing too much on the homeless.

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“Even regular citizens are having mental health issues as well. The homelessness, crime and the street population — yes definitely we need to deal with that, but we have forgot about our regular citizens as well,” he said. “My focus will be on them more than the homeless people. That’s a provincial and federal issue mostly.”

Dhaliwal, who organizes events like Canada Day in Kamloops, was elected as one of two councillors in a by-election in 2017.

Many noted how little he spoke in his one year in council chambers, but Dhaliwal says part of that was listening and learning the role. He notes another aspect was feeling silenced and bullied by city staff and management.

“They just didn’t like me being in there at that time, the senior management, because they knew I was going to make some noise,” noted Dhaliwal, who owns Ray’s Lock & Keys downtown. “It was just the beginning of ‘let’s get this guy and put him in line and make sure he doesn’t make too much noise.'”

However, he feels he had a few accomplishments during his time as councillor before losing his seat by 732 votes in 2018. He was involved in helping to evict tenants from a problem home on Nelson Avenue.

He wants voters to know they can count on him to make the necessary changes.

“Behind the scenes, I did lots of stuff. People would come to the shop here and I’d address their concerns, and everybody that came in got their concerns addressed. Safety and security was on my radar at that time as well,” he said.

It’s going to be one of his priorities again, trying to secure the top job in council chambers on Oct. 15.