File photo. (Image Credit: CFJC Today)
OneBC Town Hall

OneBC claims City of Kamloops attempting to cancel Kia Lounge booking via hefty security fee

Jun 4, 2026 | 6:44 AM

KAMLOOPS — A political party that booked a public facility in Kamloops for a town hall this weekend claims the city has attempted to cancel its event. 

In a news release issued Wednesday (June 3) night, OneBC states it had signed a contract and paid a fee of $583 to rent the Kia Lounge in Sandman Centre, which is owned and operated by the City of Kamloops, for a town hall and question-and-answer (Q&A) session with its leader, Dallas Brodie. 

However, the party says the city attempted to charge an additional $7,729 security fee for “needed security expenditures.” OneBC says it paid to rent the space weeks prior to the planned event on Sunday (June 7).

“This is clearly an attempt to shut down the event or extort thousands of dollars from a political party city bureaucrats don’t like,” OneBC states. “There is no RCMP report of any evidence provided by the City of Kamloops showing a safety risk exists, let alone one that requires nearly [$8,000] to be spent to mitigate it. The only organization trying to stir up trouble and hatred surrounding the OneBC event is the City of Kamloops.”

Sunday’s town hall in Kamloops is scheduled to be part of OneBC’s ‘Backbone of BC Tour.’ It promises to discuss the party’s platform, “the state of UNDRIP and defending private and crown property, affordability, local decision-making (and) the future of B.C.’s backbone communities,” as well as offer a question-and-answer period. Brodie and OneBC hold several controversial, far-right positions on social issues, including residential school denialism and Indigenous rights. 

In a statement Wednesday, the City of Kamloops and Kamloops council say they recognize the town hall “has and will generate concern within our community”. 

The statement notes the city does not “support or condone residential school denialism, anti Indigenous racism or any form of hate speech.” Even so, it says denying the OneBC booking would put it in legal jeopardy. 

CFJC Today requested comment from Deputy Mayor Mike O’Reilly, but did not hear back by deadline Wednesday. 

Last November, Brodie joined several prominent residential school denialists in an attempt to hold an unsanctioned event on the Thompson Rivers University campus. The group was denied entry into Old Main and asked to leave the campus. 

One week later, Tk’emlúps Kúkwpi7 Rosanne Casimir called for Brodie’s resignation. 

In February, OneBC held a town hall at the Sorrento Community Hall. The event sparked polarized comments online in advance, as well as a planned counter-protest. 

In response, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District noted it does not operate the hall and has no input into the bookings, though it does provide funding for a pair of non-profit groups who operate the venue. 

OneBC’s events page online says a town hall and Q&A is still scheduled in Kamloops on Sunday from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with a venue to be determined.