Henry Braun delivering his municipal adviser's report to Kamloops council in May 2024 (Image credit: CFJC Today/File photo).
'Governance challenges are continuing'

Province requests update from Kamloops council on implementation of Braun report

Jan 10, 2025 | 11:12 AM

KAMLOOPS — B.C.’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs wants Kamloops City Council to provide a report on the work it has done to implement the recommendations made by municipal adviser Henry Braun.

In a letter to council that was included in Tuesday’s (Jan. 14) regular meeting agenda, BC Municipal Affairs Minister Ravi Kahlon also said he wants to meet with Kamloops council early this year “when council is ready to meet.”

“I support the work of the [Municipal Adviser] and the recommendations made in his report,” Kahlon wrote in the letter dated Dec. 24, 2024. “While I recognize that council has made some progress towards implementing the recommendations of the report, I also understand that governance challenges are continuing.”

Braun, the former mayor of Abbotsford, was appointed by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs in February 2024. Kamloops council requested a municipal adviser in September 2023 in the hopes of improving the working relationship between council and Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson.

Braun delivered his report to council in May 2024, just more than two months after attending his first Kamloops council meeting and a month before his contract with the ministry expired.

In total, Braun made 23 recommendations – 13 for council as a whole and 10 solely for Hamer-Jackson – and highlighted 16 main challenges. He stated the relationship between the mayor and council was not normal

“In my opinion, the mayor has shown inflexibility in acknowledging his part in the existing dysfunction within city hall. I have observed the mayor exhibiting a dismissive and condescending attitude toward constructive criticism or the suggestion of apologies, which exacerbates the strained staff relations,” Braun told council in May 2024.

Since the Braun report was released, council voted to

However, conflict between the mayor and council continues. Hamer-Jackson announced in July 2024 that he would not step down as mayor despite a formal request from council’s committee of the whole.

Since then, Councillor Bill Sarai publicly apologized in council chambers in November 2024 for secretly recording a conversation between himself and Hamer-Jackson nearly two years prior, then lying about the recording.

One month later, Hamer-Jackson attempted to bring evidence from his defamation lawsuit against Councillor Katie Neustaeter in a regular meeting, causing an abrupt recess and several councillors leaving.

Council will discuss Kahlon’s letter during Tuesday’s meeting.