Council and mayor candidates square off in Vernon

Council and mayor candidates square off in Vernon

Published 11:00 am Friday, September 25, 2026

The public’s first chance to hear from those looking to lead the city saw a strong turnout of residents and candidates Wednesday.

The Sustainable Environment Network Society (SENS) hosted council and mayor candidates at the Vernon Performing Arts Centre Sept. 23.

All but two council candidates showed up, with Dauna Kennedy and Kari Statham sending their regrets as they were unable to attend.

Amid a historic drought, the environment was a hot topic with everything from housing to wildfires and fossil fuels touched upon.

A lot of praise was given to Vernon’s existing Official Community Plan (OCP), which maps out future growth and policies for sustainability.

“I think a real focus on reducing the distance between where one lives and where one works and where one goes for services – doctors, dentists, various services, which is covered in the OCP,” said council candidate Dustin Griffin.

Wayne Carson says the worst climate offender is wildfires, and while we are making incremental advances in climate change, we lose it all in one fire.

“We’ve got homes burning, vehicles, insulation, plastic,” said Carson, looking to change that with a seat on council. All this is going up in the smoke that we’re breathing from these fires. We need to get a handle on structural protection and stop homes from burning.”

Transportation alternatives are key for Amy Klassen, who also praised the OCP.

“We need to look at our walking and cycling networks so they’re not isolated segments, so they’re more practical for people to use to get around, as well as our transit system,” said council candidate Klassen.

Incumbent councillor Akbal Mund said cities need to collaborate and push provincial building code laws.

“California mandated in certain communities that you have to have solar panels, can’t build without one,” said Mund.

Measuring progress and making it visual to the community is something Diana Wilson wants to see, along with education, if elected to council.

“I was really excited to see that there is work underway with UBC to explore a climate engagement centre in Vernon, and this would be a hub for the community to explore climate opportunities that they can do because we as residents are the biggest creators of these emissions,” said Wilson.

David Scarlatescu pointed out that while the city cut emissions from its own operations, community emissions actually went up.

“The plan works where the city is in direct control, but the update has to make low-carbon choice the ways, affordable choice for residents and businesses,” said Scarlatescu, owner of The Fig who is running for council.

Incumbent councillor Teresa Durning says communities need to continue to move to more efficient energy sources and retrofits.

“I think it’s important for our city to continue advocating for that and keep on pushing forward with the walkable community and active transportation initiatives,” said Durning.

Council candidate Barry Dorval agrees with all the suggestions, and applauds the work of Climate Action Ripple Effect (CARE, a program he helped develop) to get youth at the forefront of change, including the two young girls who got Vernon to create free bus passes for youth 13 to 18 which is now in effect Oct. 1.

“But we also have to start sucking in a little bit of air through our wetlands and our urban forests,” said Dorval, who is also a SENS member.

Dawn Tucker wants to bring back the stalled tree bylaw and expansion of the “oversubscribed” Trees for Tomorrow program.

“We should be following what Kelowna does as well, so we don’t have people choosing the wrong type of trees,” said Tucker, who is looking to move her seat from the council gallery to the council table. “I think there’s a lot of little moves that are made every day at council.”

Council candidate Robert Cook says the city needs to be better at offering transit options, which aren’t offered up to Silver Star or past the airport.

“So we’re trying more or less to get people to not drive but then there’s two large areas that we’re not servicing,” he said, adding he has a friend who has to drive his son to college every day because he can’t get the bus.

Incumbent councillor Kelly Fehr is impressed that this last four years on council there’s hasn’t been anyone denying that the climate is changing, and a lot of work is being done to reduce the city’s footprint, which he says must be continued.

“Conducting our natural asset inventory and developing a management plan around that, developing a building retrofit program that supports residents to be more resilient to climate change, reducing energy investments over time, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by improving building efficiency and installing low-carbon energy systems, continue implementing our award-winning climate action plan,” said Fehr, who works at Turning Points Collaborative Society.

Sarah Moorhouse applauds the city for the work it’s done to date, and urges more education to help citizens do more.

“I don’t think we’re not doing a good job because we don’t want to. I think maybe we don’t know,” said Moorhouse, who is running for a seat on council.

The final council candidate to speak on the topic, Robert Sawatzky, says the single most effective action in tackling climate change would be renewed emphasis from the federal government with the cooperation of the provincial government.

“We would benefit mightily from economically driven reductions in the use of fossil fuels. Fuels in our transportation industry and homes,” said Sawatzky, a former mayor of Vernon. “Design and climate mitigation and adaptation could be promoted effectively with supportive senior policy and financial signals and assistance to improve the efficacy of our climate action plan instead of working in opposition to our goals, as federal policy unfortunately does now.”

Incumbent mayor Victor Cumming says continuing with density is the fastest way to reduce emissions by decreasing the distance that people travel. The next critical step, he says, is to switch vehicles to electric and move buildings off of natural gas and into electricity.

“That’s what we chose to do with the Active Living Centre. It’s net zero ready. In essence, we can put solar panels on the roof and it would be self-sufficient energizing. We’ve done the same thing with the Greater Vernon Culture Centre, but it is carbon neutral.”

Sitting councillor Kari Gares, who is now running for mayor, adds the city has been focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the last eight years with its climate action plan.

“But I do want to make a note though that there are some challenges with going 100 per cent electrified. Until BC Hydro can build that infrastructure, that may cause some challenges. So I think from a city perspective, we also have to make sure that we work with upper levels of government, including BC Hydro, as we navigate to a more green environment.”

Mayoral candidate Wayne Lippert says the planning and smart growth work started when he was mayor, looking after infrastructure development and hillside development.

“We started that kind of stuff and I’m glad to see that it’s still going. But I think we can still keep working to improve it. And we need to keep working to expand our water reclamation. And common sense just says you want to take advantage of what we already have and use our infrastructure. So I’m glad to see the plan has been working. And I think we need to work to keep revising, review it, and do better.”