Kelowna’s new mayor has removed his entire campaign from the web

Just days after being elected as Kelowna’s next mayor, what Tom Dyas campaigned on is no longer visible on the internet.

His campaign website now carries a moving “Thank You” banner and a message about continuing to listen and work for the electorate.

The only thing left of the webpage that carried his message into the campaign is a “Donate” link.

“Campaigns are expensive and we still have some bills to pay,” the page reads. “Please consider donating to help pay off our campaign expenses.”

This is a man who has called for an integrity commission, audit of city finances, lobbyist registry and included the words “transparency and accountability” as part of his campaign platform as he ran against Mayor Colin Basran.

READ MORE: Kelowna mayoral candidate promises lobbyist registry, integrity commissioner

Or did he? It’s impossible now to even try to trace such words to his campaign page.

His Facebook page is still active but it doesn’t contain his platform. Virtually all of his campaign messaging has disappeared.

Still, that’s more than can be said about Basran. His website now needs a password and his Facebook campaign page is turned off.

That’s not the case universally.

Newly elected Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson and Penticton Mayor Julius Bloomfield still have their campaign websites posted.

In fact, the Bloomfield campaign team took umbrage with iNFOnews.ca in September for quoting from a still, at least partially, active website he used when he ran for mayor in 2011. It has no dates on it.

Most, if not all, elected city councillors who had websites have left them active, at least for now.

So, when the next civic election rolls around in 2026 and voters want to hold Dyas accountable for his past promises, they won’t be able to find his actual words online – other than excerpts quoted in news articles.

Dyas did not respond to iNFOnews.ca’s requests for an interview prior to publication time.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submitphotos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.