AHSA will evolve!

While the relaunch of AHSA is focused right now on our upcoming Salmon Arm local elections, there’ll always be a potpourri of local and regional posts. The Tabs at the top (the look of AHSA) as well as the content of posts will shift after these important local elections.

Thinking of running in Salmon Arm’s local government election this fall? 10 Tips

General Election Day is on October 17th 2026. We’re in the official nomination period (Sept 1st – 11th) now to formally register as candidate.

I’ve posted a series of tips to help prep for leadership on the Salmon Arm council. You can easily access all those posts by clicking on Tips below a relevant post content 👇 or in the Category Cloud in the far right column 👉

Trustees: Announced Candidates for Salmon Arm’s School District #83 Trustee Seats *Updated Sept 4th 2026*

There are 2 trustee positions for Salmon Arm on SD #83’s five seat board. I’ll update this list regularly as public announced statements are made and/or nominations are filed and posted â€“ in order (as best as can be determined). If you’re a candidate who’s publicly announced but I’ve missed you, please let me know! The tally of those who have formally filed will be updated at the end of each day as the Chief Elections Officer updates the list (see link below). The official final confirmed list will be updated in mid-September.

  • Linda Martens – Announced & Filed
  • Tracy Riley – Announced & Filed

The nomination period to officially submit papers is Sept 1st – 11th. During this formal nomination period, the Chief Elections Officer will regularly post at the end of each day who has filed their nomination papers. Here’s the city election page link to Who has formally filed! Also listed there is contact campaign info, websites and social media platforms that candidates may have provided.

Here’s the link for publicly announced Candidates for Salmon Arm Mayor https://timlavery.ca/2026/08/08/announced-candidates-for-salmon-arm-mayor/

Here’s the link for publicly announced Candidates for Salmon Arm Council seats (6 positions) https://timlavery.ca/2026/08/08/announced-candidates-for-salmon-arm-council/

Codes of Conduct for Politicos

Now if 10 year olds can develop & adhere to a code of responsible conduct ……

Backstory: Years ago our backyard was a hub for a mud kitchen for the neighbourhood kids. Things went smoothingly well for years so it was a bit of surprise to us that a ‘code’ was developed & literally posted by the participants. Still no idea why and still have long-standing Qs about that *creaming* part 😛 but they had their rules. This still remains on our garage wall as a reminder to be kind, respectful & not obnoxious.

The provincial government is amending the Community Charter to transition to a mandatory, provincewide code of conduct for all local government elected officials in alignment with our upcoming October elections.  While exact details are yet to be announced, the new code is intended to address issues such as bullying, meeting disruptions, marginalization of members, conflict of interest violations, and staff mistreatment. It’s so appalling it’s come to this in too many other jurisdictions. Stay tuned!

FTR: Salmon Arm has had our own locally developed Code based on best practices for the past 4 years as well as a respectful elected table committed to individual responsible behaviour. It works if elected officials are committed to making things work.

Council: Announced Candidates for Salmon Arm Council *Updated Sept 4th 2026*

I’ll update this list regularly as public announced statements are made and/or nominations are filed and posted– in order (as best as can be determined). If you’re a candidate who’s publicly announced but I’ve missed you, please let me know! The tally of those who have formally filed will be updated at the end of each day as the Chief Elections Officer updates the list (see link below). The official final confirmed list will be updated in mid-September. There are 6 positions on Salmon Arm council.

  • River Grabowsky – Announced & Filed
  • Marianne VanBuskirk – Announced & Filed
  • Owen Madden – Announced
  • Robin Wiens – Announced & Filed
  • Shelley Desautels – Announced & Filed
  • Morgan Turland – Announced & Filed
  • Scott Syme – Announced & Filed
  • Kari Toliver Wilkinson – Announced & Filed
  • Debbie Cannon (Incumbent) – Announced & Filed
  • David Gonella (Incumbent) – Announced
  • Louise Wallace Richmond (Incumbent) – Announced & Filed
  • Jo McDermott – Announced & Filed
  • Anthony McLean – Filed
  • Ian Gray – Filed
  • Adam Meikle – Filed
  • Vic Hamilton – Announced & Filed

The nomination period to officially submit papers is Sept 1st – 11th. We’re likely to see further candidate announcements by the end of the 11th. During this formal nomination period, the Chief Elections Officer will regularly post at the end of each day who has filed their nomination papers. Here’s the city election page link to Who has formally filed! Also listed there is contact campaign info, websites and social media platforms that candidates may have provided.

See https://timlavery.ca/2026/08/10/hx-of-candidates-for-salmon-arm-council/ for the number of candidates who have run in our past local elections since 2008.

Here’s the link for publicly announced Candidates for Salmon Arm Mayor https://timlavery.ca/2026/08/08/announced-candidates-for-salmon-arm-mayor/

Here’s the link for publicly announced Candidates for Salmon Arm’s two SD83 Trustee positions https://timlavery.ca/2026/08/08/announced-candidates-for-salmon-arms-school-district-83-trustee-seats/

Mayor: Announced Candidates for Salmon Arm Mayor *Updated Sept 4th 2026*

I’ll update this list regularly as public announced statements are made and/or nominations are filed and posted – in order (as best as can be determined). If you’re a candidate who’s publicly announced but I’ve missed you, please let me know! The official final confirmed list will be updated in mid-September.

  • Alan Harrison (Incumbent) –Announced & Filed

Here’s the link for publicly announced Candidates for Salmon Arm Council seats (6 positions) https://timlavery.ca/2026/08/08/announced-candidates-for-salmon-arm-council/

Here’s the link for publicly announced Candidates for Salmon Arm’s two SD83 Trustee positions https://timlavery.ca/2026/08/08/announced-candidates-for-salmon-arms-school-district-83-trustee-seats/

Advocacy is setting the table

Provincial advocacy is about working closely (and apolitically for the most part) with your MLA to mutually address specific local govt concerns with higher levels of government. It’s not just the issues that matter but the combined eforts to provide local context and solutions. It does make a difference when Ministers and top ministry staff are aware of our top concerns & priorities. #SalmonArm does that! It’s ongoing work to be seen as a reliable and trusted partner be it at UBCM or in ongoing interactions. Flashback #UBCM2019

So how much time is involved really?

It’s a legitimate & typical Q that most councillor candidates ask about … and the answer is … it depends – and likely varies with who you ask! For me, for the city, it’s *usually* 15 – 20 hours per week incl. scheduled council meetings, chairing of assigned committees, touching base with residents and prep beforehand for all of that. The analogy of a rookie politico getting up-to-speed on key files being similar to trying to drink from a fire hose is more than apt. Reading & consulting on background aspects is full-on time consuming at the start. It’ll likely take a year or so for this initial phase. The time commitments didn’t change that much for me even after I managed to get a handle on core files. The hours simply transferred to more fully understanding other key issues of interest or emerging importance. The hours do change a titch depending on the time of year as well. They rarely go down. Budget deliberation time incl. prep often takes days – and that’s amidst all of the regularly scheduled meetings.

The red highlights are direct city-based meetings, inservice or input sessions. The green are my regional district commitments and the orange is mainly related to meetings with individuals. The different months are a good snapshot of my time spent.

So, Mondays are pretty well full-on afternoon council meetings (1pm for a few hours and sometimes 7pm for public hearings) or Planning time (8am- of varying length – usually 1 -2 hours). Mid-weeks for me are often touching base with staff, residents or prep’ing for other sessions. Your mileage may vary for sure but this is my typical weekly shift. Community events during the week and the weekends aren’t reflected here either.