Local Entrepreneur Joins Municipal Race

As part of its coverage leading up to the Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026 municipal election, Black Press Media is inviting all local council candidates to share their background, motivations, and main priorities. Responses are being made public in the order they arrive.

Among those running is local entrepreneur Indy Dhial, who currently owns and runs a two-location licensed childcare business. His professional history also includes working as a regional sales manager at Shaw, where he directed teams across Northern British Columbia, the Thompson-Fraser area, and the Okanagan.

Community Involvement and Priorities

Dhial brings extensive experience from various community organizations. He serves as President of the OKGN Sports and Cultural Society, and sits as a director for the ECEBC Regulatory Board, Rutland Youth Soccer Association, Kelowna Men’s Soccer League, and the Uptown Rutland Business Association.

In explaining his decision to run, Dhial expressed a desire to give back to the city where he raised his family. He stated his goal is to ensure Kelowna remains safe, affordable, and well-prepared for future growth through practical leadership and follow-through.

Addressing Community Safety

Identifying community safety as the primary challenge facing the city, Dhial advocates for fully resourced fire, bylaw, and RCMP services. He also supports consistent public enforcement alongside local initiatives like street outreach, Downtown On Call, and the URBA Community Safety Team.

Dhial emphasized that enforcement must be paired with support services. His plan includes working alongside local providers, Indigenous partners, BC Housing, and Interior Health to establish a single coordinated intake system. This framework would assess individuals dealing with severe financial hardship, homelessness, mental illness, or addiction, linking them directly to housing, treatment, and support. While acknowledging the municipality cannot resolve these challenges single-handedly, he stated the city must foster partnerships, push for senior-government funding, demand clear public behaviour standards, and transparently report results.

Viral exposure sparks worldwide donations

An online post by American influencer Mandi Jung highlighting a Kelowna municipal campaign sign has triggered global attention and financial contributions. Jung shared an image of one of Brady Rogers’s 35 lawn signs with her 100,000 followers on X, calling it “the most millennial thing I have seen in my entire life.” The post garnered 147,000 likes, while an associated video reel amassed roughly 1.5 million views, driving unexpected international interest toward the local race.

“This last week especially has been pretty wild,” Rogers said. “It’s been very unexpected. Locally I’ve been getting attention, but then somebody in the states I guess found me and made a reel about my campaign and it’s I think had one and a half million views or something.”

Humour as a voter engagement strategy

The 33-year-old candidate, who operates a business 3D-printing household items from recycled plastic, turned to social media to launch his campaign. “I decided I wanted some signs and had some funny ideas, so I put it out on Instagram to raise some money and set up a campaign,” Rogers said.

His physical campaign signs state, “Brady Rogers for city council. Don’t worry, I’ll fix everything. Terms and conditions apply.” Readers scanning a QR code on the signs are directed to a website where Rogers openly states that he lacks qualification, lacks political expertise, and dislikes politics, before concluding, “Fine, I’ll do it.” Rogers explained that his lighthearted approach aims to capture public focus and motivate residents to participate in voting.

Policy proposals and local platform

Beyond the viral marketing, Rogers is focusing on city governance and community challenges. “Our city has a lot of good initiatives and good work being done on it. But I’m looking at how we can better integrate some of those initiatives and perhaps provide more unified leadership on it,” he stated.

His platform addresses specific business and resident concerns, particularly regarding street-level drug use. “There’s more the city can be doing to address the immediate concerns that businesses and residents have around things like open drug use. I’ve been looking into the idea of perhaps testing a zero-tolerance policy in Kelowna around open drug use. It’s not going to stop people from doing drugs, but I think it would mean a lot to businesses if we could at least push the drug use off the streets,” Rogers said.

Incumbent Outlines Priorities Ahead of Deadline

As part of an election feature by Black Press Media, incumbent Mayor Tom Dyas has presented his priorities for another term leading Kelowna ahead of the Oct. 17, 2026, municipal vote. Black Press Media invited the three official mayoral candidates—Dyas, Ron Cannan, and Andrew Uitvlugt—to submit video interviews and 500-word written statements by Oct. 1, with submissions published as received. All candidates completed the video segment, while Dyas was among those participating in the written portion.

Public Safety and Housing Commitments

Public safety remains a core pillar of Dyas’s platform. If re-elected, he pledges to create 75 new frontline public-safety roles and install a continuous 24/7 security presence across both Downtown and Rutland. He also advocates for a Treatment First strategy for addiction recovery, calling on the province to provide mandatory compassionate care, expanded detox capacity, and a regional recovery facility. Reflecting on his first term, Dyas noted that the city recruited 33 RCMP officers, 17 Bylaw Enforcement Officers, and 18 firefighters, contributing to three consecutive years of declining crime rates.

Addressing local housing, Dyas highlighted that Kelowna’s rental vacancy rate climbed from under 1 per cent in 2022 to 6 per cent. He cited the city’s 180 tiny homes, which helped over 125 individuals move into permanent or supportive housing, as part of his strategy to expand affordable living options and streamline development approvals.

Infrastructure and Community History

To reduce traffic congestion, Dyas plans to advance key road developments, including extending Clement Avenue, widening Glenmore, replacing the KLO Bridge, and improving Burtch, Hollywood, Stewart, and South Mission roads. He is also urging provincial support for a new Regional Transit Facility and a second lake crossing.

Dyas, a former business owner of 40 years and two-term Kelowna Chamber of Commerce president before his 2022 election, shared a historic local note: following a 1969 fire that destroyed the city’s old Aquatic Centre and Stadium, insurance funding helped establish the original Parkinson Recreation Centre, which the city is now working to replace.