Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson speaks to CFJC after election results were made public, Oct. 17, 2026. (Image Credit: CFJC Today / File Photo)
By James Peters
City Hall

Internal email thread copied to Kamloops media confirms outgoing mayor’s heart attack

Oct 21, 2026 | 2:44 PM

KAMLOOPS — The outgoing mayor of Kamloops was being treated for a heart attack in the final week of the municipal election campaign.

The confirmation is contained in a lengthy email thread that began last Thursday (Oct. 15) between Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson and October’s deputy mayor, Councillor Stephen Karpuk.

It originated with Karpuk asking Hamer-Jackson whether he could help the mayor with anything, in light of several days of no communication. Karpuk noted the mayor had been absent from an event the previous night, hosted by the Canadian Home Builders Association-Central Interior (CHBA-CI).

The mayor responded with six emails containing questions related to the punitive measures council has taken against him during his term. In a protracted thread, the mayor posed many of his oft-repeated questions and grievances over council-prompted investigations and disciplinary actions over the past four years.

The exchange was copied to CFJC Today, among other local media, on Monday (Oct. 19) and was still ongoing as of Wednesday morning, at which point it contained 38 separate emails from Hamer-Jackson, nine from Karpuk – and one from Councillor Dale Bass, who encouraged Karpuk to “just note and file this nonsense.”

Question of the Week
How satisfied are you with the results of the election for Kamloops mayor and council?
Oct 19, 2026
1000 Ways to Heal
1000 WAYS TO HEAL: What are you carrying?
Oct 19, 2026
Looped In
LOOPED IN WITH NIKKI OMEN: October 19, 2026
Oct 19, 2026

“Soon we will be free of this crap,” concluded Bass.

In one emailed reply dated Oct. 18, Hamer-Jackson confirmed he suffered a coronary event the previous Wednesday.

“Councillor Karpuk, I had a heart attack on Tuesday the 14th. How do you believe you can help? I did inform [CHBA-CI Executive Officer Rose Choy] that I would be unable to attend due to personal reasons,” wrote Hamer-Jackson. “Again, please answer my questions.”

Hamer-Jackson has copied local media on several internal email threads in recent months. In certain cases in which sensitive personnel details have been disclosed, media outlets have been contacted by the city’s privacy officer with instructions to ‘double-delete’ the email threads.

Hamer-Jackson, Karpuk and Bass all fell short in their re-election bids in the Oct. 17 municipal vote.

The mayor’s health disclosure stands in contrast to a pair of statements he made to CFJC Today reporters last week. In each case, when asked directly about his health, the mayor replied, “I’m fine.”

Hamer-Jackson spoke to CFJC Today on camera from his election night gathering at Mount Paul Golf Course Saturday evening, blaming his loss on council’s communications strategy and saying democracy had been “challenged”.

by James Peters

Our Community

Question of the Week
How satisfied are you with the results of the election for Kamloops mayor and council?
Oct 19, 2026
1000 Ways to Heal
1000 WAYS TO HEAL: What are you carrying?
Oct 19, 2026
Looped In
LOOPED IN WITH NIKKI OMEN: October 19, 2026
Oct 19, 2026
One Man's Opinion
COLLINS: The economy or the environment
Oct 19, 2026
Week in Review
Week in Review: Week of October 12, 2026
Oct 17, 2026