A personal reflection on Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson, voter intent, and why change in Kamloops was always going to be uncomfortable — and why that matters.
The Mayor Who Wouldn’t Stay Down
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City Council
Council Won’t Say Who Owns Comet Shares
After three emails and nearly three months, only the Mayor responded. When I published Why the O’Reilly Case Matters in Kamloops , I suggested the case was about more than one councillor or one complaint. It was about whether City Council understands what ethical...
Protected Speech Is Not Vindication
In the days following the dismissal of Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson’s defamation lawsuit, Councillor Katie Neustaeter has characterized the court’s decision as vindication. That word is doing far more work than the judgment itself supports. The court didn't declare the...
Free Speech Won. That’s Not the Whole Story
Local coverage of Hamer-Jackson v. Neustaeter has settled into a comfortable, low-effort storyline: Free speech wins. Case dismissed. Move along. It’s tidy. It’s simple. It’s also incomplete in a way that meaningfully misleads readers. Justice J. Hughes did not...
Deputy Mayor Says Accuracy of Council Minutes Is Not “Legitimate City Business”
After evidence showed a missing vote in Kamloops council minutes, the Deputy Mayor refused to engage, calling accuracy concerns “not legitimate city business.”
Kamloops Council Minutes Misrepresent How January 13 Decisions Were Made
Municipal council minutes are supposed to be the official historical record of what occurred during a public meeting. They are relied upon by residents, journalists, lawyers, and courts as evidence of how decisions were reached. But a review of the City of Kamloops’...