Legislation Thompson-Okanagan MLAs introduced in 2025

Politicians in the Thompson-Okanagan region put their names on several pieces of proposed legislation in 2025, and 2026 will show whether they’ll make it into law or die on the floor.

These bills received a first reading, so there’s still a way to go before any of them become law, and some might not go any further.

Kelowna-Mission MLA Gavin Dew put forward a bill to change the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act to allow cities to opt-out in May instead of November with the goal to bring Airbnbs back to Kelowna in time for the summer tourist season.

Dew’s bill isn’t going to to reach its goal of bringing back short-term rentals for the summer.

Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream MLA Tara Armstrong put forward several controversial bills that didn’t make it to a first reading, but two of her bills passed the first hurdle.

Armstrong’s bill to make a statutory holiday in honour of the Freedom Convoy and her bill to prohibit public bodies from buying goods from China made it to a first reading near the end of 2025.

In April, West Kelowna-Peachland MLA Macklin McCall spearheaded a bill that would create a “BC Volunteer Corps” that would help encourage more volunteerism during emergencies and natural disasters.

Penticton-Summerland MLA Amelia Boultbee introduced a bill to make it easier to recall MLAs. As it stands, recall petitions can oust MLAs if they get 40 per cent of eligible voters to sign and can only begin 18 months after an election.

Boultbee’s bill would mean that MLAs can be recalled if a petition gathers as many signatures as the MLA received when they were voted in and petitions would be able to start 12 months after an election.

Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar spearheaded three bills in 2025, none of which have gotten to a second reading yet.

Milobar put forward a bill to repeal the Greenhouse Gas Industrial Reporting and Control Act, a bill to change the Low Carbon Fuels Act and a bill to change the taxation rate cap for properties in some municipalities.

Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer introduced the Dashboard Cameras in Commercial Vehicles Act which got to a second reading on Nov. 24. The act would require cameras in commercial vehicles and require that it’s turned on while driving.