A freedom convoy donor brings big city party politics to a small B.C. town

A big city political trend has come to the Okanagan town of Osoyoos, B.C., this election cycle as a businessman with ties to the Freedom Convoy protests has created a political slate and put together a team of candidates in an effort to win a majority of council seats.

Osoyoos First, led by mayoral candidate Dustin Sikora, has a well-organized website with individual bios for each candidate, vision statements and a list of ways to donate.

The emergence of the slatehas createda lot of enthusiasm in the community of 5,500 people over shared ideas to tackle long-standing issues but also concern because of Sikora's links to the protestmovement.

'Slates uncommon for smaller centres'

The four men running under the Osoyoos First banner are relatively young under the age of 45 and rookie candidates.

The collective is promising to fix long-standing issues with water quality andsewage treatment by usingnew technological solutions. They are also pledging to address housing shortages and to bring doctors to Osoyoos things they say the incumbent mayor andtown councillorshave not been able to achieve.

In addition to its website, Osoyoos First hasan active social media presence andcampaign videos. It has put onmultiple eventsso the public can meet the candidates.

Whileparty politics of this nature are commonin larger Lower Mainland municipalities, it israrein the B.C. Interior, saidHamish Telford, an associate professor of political science atthe University of the Fraser Valley.

"Slates are very uncommon for smaller centres around British Columbia."

"The logic of a slate makes sense in smaller centres as well asit does in larger centres. I just hadn't expected the phenomenon to take root in the smaller centres just yet."

Freedom convoy ties

Early in the election campaign, it was revealed Sikorahad donated approximately $23,000to the Freedom Convoy movement the fifth largest Canadian donation.

Sikora addressed the issueon the Osoyoos First website. However, his ties to the convoy movement concernsome people in the town.

"The convoy is definitely a polarizing subject," said Susan Knox, the president of the Osoyoos Secondary PAC.

"We had convoys at the Osoyoos border that werenot peaceful. There was a woman ... a reporter, who was spat on at the convoy."

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Sikora did not make himself available for an interview despite repeated requests.

In his written statement,Sikora said he doesn'thide or apologize for his donation and explained he did it "in the early stages of themovement" as a way of "pushing backagainst what Ifelt was harmful government overreach."

Sikora is one of a number of candidates across B.C. connected to the convoy movement, according to Telford.

"It's not surprising they are moving into the political realm, especially at the municipal level."

"You just need to get a few of your friends to sign nomination forms, and you are good to go, and so this is an obvious venue for this fledgling social movement."

'Let's move forward'

Fellow Osoyoos First candidate Zach Poturicabelieves Sikoraaddressed his donation to the convoy well and saidit'stime to focus on issues connected to Osoyoos.

"Let's move forward," Poturica said. "We are running for the right reasons. We are running because we feel we can contribute to this community."

Sikora and OsoyoosFirst have prominent supporters in the town, including two former mayors who have given their endorsements.

"They've got the fire. They want to effectchange," said former mayor StuWells."If we've done nothing else in Osoyoos,we've created one of the biggest waves of interest in civic politics ever."

Challenging the incumbents

There's a real opportunity for Osoyoos Firstto wina majority of five seats on town council.

In addition to Sikora's slate, there are only four other candidates on the ballot, three of whom are seeking re-election:incumbent Sue McKortoff, the only other mayoral candidate and councillors Jim King andMyersBennet.

McKortoffwonlandslide victories in the past two municipal elections and saidshe is up for the fight to keep her seat.

She isrunning on her track record as mayor and politicalaccomplishments, including a new sewage lift station, downtown revitalization and her leadership during the pandemic.

"[Sikora]doesn't have the experience with local government or with theLocal Government Act and community charter," McKortoff said.

She saysthe solutions Sikora and Osoyoos First are presenting to fix the town's water issues won't be easy to implement.

"It is much more difficult than he would lead you to believe," she said.

She wants peopleto ask questions and make an informed decision on who they think is the best candidate to lead the town.

Whether Sikora'sties to the convoy movement ultimately sway voters one way or the other remains to be seen.