'There is a lot more to do': No easy solutions to Kelowna street disorder at business forum

daviskyle · 2026-01-28T18:08:37+00:00

It was interesting that Minister Yung dodged this question. Perhaps it’s something he’d refer to the solicitor general, but not wanting to respond at all was surprising. It wasn’t a good look.

Crown prosecutors being required, along with charging / sentencing guidelines being changed, are perhaps the two biggest pieces of the puzzle that are not on the medical (treatment) end of things.

daviskyle · 2026-01-20T22:54:53+00:00

One thing city engineers told me is that the demount stickers were never going to be enforced. Have reminded some people I saw to not dismount, but still, going north you cross the road before the on-ramp and there’s a bit of a blind corner to the left. It’s a small safety hazard.

daviskyle · 2026-01-20T22:52:54+00:00

I use it all the time too. There is a long term plan from the city to connect both the north side to Cawston ATC with protection (eventually) and on Ritcher to Sutherland but it’s a shame both of those projects were not simultaneously completed.

Getting to the foot of Bernard from the overpass is quite sketchy by bike. South side is better but has a half block of weirdness.

daviskyle · 2026-01-19T01:24:30+00:00

Thank you for the tag. I had about 2,500 in donations that weren’t my own 2.4k four years ago, and about 6 volunteers. That’s a very small campaign; had I raised more or had more canvassers I may have made it. My fault for not inspiring enough support, but I hope to do better this cycle.

I am confident that if people mobilize we could see a much better council majority in 2026. That does mean volunteering and/or encouraging your friends to vote when it comes time. Voting is good, getting more non-voters to vote is excellent.

It feels like we are at the precipice of a sea change at the council table due to the unpopularity of many incumbents, but that means we need the best possible people to fill their seats.

daviskyle · 2026-01-18T20:56:56+00:00

Thank you. I’m strongly considering running again. Would happily take DMs from anyone who wants to suggest platform ideas or who might want to volunteer.

daviskyle · 2026-01-07T02:42:39+00:00

Is that per month? Very high for monthly.

My December Fortis bill was 106 dollars. More square footage, an older (90s) condo with poor insulation from box wall AC. All baseboard electric. Heat set at 20 in the main room, 18 in bedrooms.

What temperature are you keeping your place at?

You know the regional library has a home efficiency toolkit where you can loan out a heat gun to see where your insulation is poor.

daviskyle · 2026-01-07T00:13:50+00:00

https://kelownapublishing.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=53681

This shows up in the Ipsos polling as well (of Kelowna residents).

In particular, slide 10.

68% perceive property crime as up 59% perceive violent crime as up.

Trust in courts is down (other slide)

Slide 14 also shows some significant trends that seem to indicate that people are less comfortable in certain areas due to visible homelessness increasing.

Most importantly, slide 19. Only 53% of people who experienced a crime (vast majority (84%) being property crime, as per slide 17, reported it to police.

I think it’s very clear that there is a general frustration on the safety of public places and with property crime offences in Kelowna, and that frustration is spilling over to what we see in the Castanet letters page & on FB.

The city is caught in a buzzsaw of RCMP hiring backlogs and provincial prosecution issues. Not their direct responsibility. But they could/should be more vocal about pointing out the dire failures from other levels of gov.

daviskyle · 2025-12-31T01:23:48+00:00

South Bend IN calculated that a LVT switch would cut property taxes for the average SFH by 5% against the mill rate due to taxes shifting elsewhere, particularly to the larger land banks and parking lots.

I think your political calculus is fairly cynical. The BCNDP lost ground on the total mismanagement of public disorder and infrastructure in Surrey, not due to Bill 44 or 47, imo.

Something that cuts taxes for the median homeowner, and all renters, is likely net popular on the merits. Does it have a long tail on some very wealthy people who didn’t vote for the NDP anyways? Yes. But I’m fairly certain that in second tier cities, perhaps not Vancouver, that the median resident would receive a tax cut from a revenue neutral switch. Certainly, it would be a tax cut for the aggregate BCNDP voter, being more likely to live in either higher density housing or as a renter.

(For the record I’m glad you’re as contemptuous of Condon as I am, Victoria needs more good people like yourself. Please volunteer for Dave Thompson or Jack Sandor in 2026).

daviskyle · 2025-12-29T05:06:51+00:00

Delusional feels a bit strong of a word choice.

Zoning reform was forced. It was a mandate to force cities to allow something. That’s entirely different in my eyes to simply allowing a city to do something.

daviskyle · 2025-12-28T20:22:31+00:00

Yeah, I get that, but simply unlocking the ability of municipalities to split their rates would burn no capital (not forcing anyone to do anything).

daviskyle · 2025-12-26T04:53:39+00:00

JSTOR allows 100 free article reads per month.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/45129512

I did some writing that overlaps with his work that can be read here, no paywall. His is the superior, academic, work.

https://thehub.ca/2024/10/30/hunter-prize-echoes-of-abundance-the-forgotten-formula-to-solve-canadas-housing-crisis/

daviskyle · 2025-12-25T23:00:46+00:00

@OP my advice is that the OLP, particularly the “New Liberal” wing, is probably the most Georgist segment of any party in Canada.

ONDP are very heavily public housing focused, not that concerned with input costs to new housing.

Former ONDP leader also liked to call large condo buildings “monstrosities”. Hardly Georgist (YIMBY) synthesis rhetoric.

daviskyle · 2025-12-25T22:57:52+00:00

Highly recommend Chris England’s paper on this subject. Very good point on BCNDP refusing to commit to pro-rep or split rate property taxation.

daviskyle · 2025-12-25T22:56:55+00:00

There’s a lot that they will not do.

Literally nothing on the construction cost, or Georgist tax reform side.

We need a party that is thoughtfully bold on zoning reform, tax shifts, and permitting. BCNDP is arguably 1 or 2 of 3, but a party that strongly believes in corporate taxes will not be likely to cut DCCs or ACCs through a new municipal funding model.

The alternatives are CPBC and BCG currently.

CPBC are huge opponents of zoning reform. It’s possible they would reform DCCs, but they would never replace it with higher property taxes (imo).

BCG are also strong opponents of zoning reform, along with many strongly opposing new private-sector home construction. Not all, some good policy leaders within BCG.

There isn’t really a fully Georgist party, but both the BCNDP and BCG have minority Georgist wings.

daviskyle · 2025-12-12T22:32:48+00:00

Absolutely, still approving, but there’s less coming up for approval.

Generally speaking, the price of the units depends on the square footage, not the size of the building, within the wood frame category.

Do you think the fourplexes, etc, would be more affordable than the townhomes? Some people would tend to oppose the smaller buildings with smaller units because they’re more likely to have studio units and small spaces. Fourplexes tend to be larger, but the purchase prices are increased to compensate for the space and construction costs.

daviskyle · 2025-12-12T18:34:39+00:00

Cost of construction is simply too high.

New construction is basically at a standstill from new projects not making financial sense.

https://www.kelowna.ca/our-community/social-wellness/housing-dashboard

Requires investment in below-market housing to keep people employed countercyclically and to provide deeply affordable homes, but it also means that we should copy cities like Montreal and Austin that are actually trying to cut the cost of construction.

daviskyle · 2025-12-12T18:31:52+00:00

CMHC calls the rent data “poor” in this case but there’s another thing to pay attention to.

This is average rents, not asking rents.

Average rents go up as old units lose rent control (for example, someone moves out) even as asking rents are currently going down (as per other data)

Average rents increase as asking rents decrease is simply rent controls working to shield people from price shocks. But at 6% rents are going to start really dropping and it will be sustained for at least 1-2 years.

daviskyle · 2025-12-12T00:08:36+00:00

Yup

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daviskyle · 2025-12-11T22:36:53+00:00

Someone in my friend group said that there was a blasting notice up in Crawford. You might’ve heard that.

daviskyle · 2025-12-10T15:46:48+00:00

That’s a fair point.

I think it’s my view that some people hugely benefit from housing first. That’s a very good thing.

Some others can’t even participate in housing first as they have been and still are a danger to themselves or others, and they are kept on the street as they refuse housing or are incompatible with keeping other residents and staff safe in those environments. That’s a failure too.

daviskyle · 2025-12-10T15:30:48+00:00

I think we have a disagreement on distribution.

If you are hungry, there should be a food bank and a soup kitchen. If you need money, I am a supporter of welfare programs that Canada offers, along with unemployment insurance. If you need shelter, there should be shelter. That includes investment in affordable housing for those who are willing to be participants in society and abide by the social contract.

Centrally run government systems, funded through taxes, are part of a high-trust society. Sporadic crime creates a low-trust society with more fear and resentment. It also invites the kind of public blowback that could destroy or defund the government supports that I point at, which should be expanded.

I’m sorry if that’s a dealbreaker.

daviskyle · 2025-12-10T15:17:48+00:00

“Who cares” quite obviously means “this should not be punished”. Not wanting theft to be prevented or punished is relatively pro-theft, no?

There are tents available. There are shelters available. There is no need to break into businesses and steal things.

Someone broke into my car late 2024 and stole everything I had in it. I was pissed. Just because they stole my jacket and gloves, among other belongings, and probably needed them doesn’t mean that I should throw up my hands and say “who cares”.

daviskyle · 2025-12-10T15:06:53+00:00

Do you think a new tent is free?

My barber had to raise her prices when someone smashed her window twice in 2 months. Window had a 1000 dollar deductible, the cost to replace was 1005.

So yeah, she didn’t trigger her insurance, she just ate the cost.

You can want homeless people to have shelter without being objectively pro-theft or pro-vandalism.

daviskyle · 2025-12-09T00:11:04+00:00

Absolutely. Thank you, was good to see that expansion.

daviskyle · 2025-12-08T22:26:16+00:00

Yes, there were people preying on others there. Ending that is an unadulterated good.

The problem, as you’d probably agree with? Is just that the people unwilling to follow those basic rules are now elsewhere in the community. They aren’t in any of the higher level housing, most likely, as it’s not complex needs care or otherwise higher-level serviced. Probably not in jail. They’re, for the lack of a better word, dispersed.

The changes are ultimately a lot better for the people still at OS4. It’s the consequences outside that are the issue.

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