kelownaelections.ca

Chris Bocskei

Candidate for Councillor

Background

Christopher "Chris" Bocskei is a professional painter, small-business owner, and Rutland community advocate. He has lived in Rutland since 1993 and has worked as a painter for approximately 25 years.

Bocskei has publicly disclosed that he experienced homelessness and addiction in his youth. Originally from Hamilton, Ontario, he left home at 15 and arrived in Kelowna just before his 17th birthday. He worked at the Canamara Beach Motel and local orchards, and graduated from KLO Secondary at 19. He has said: "I spent about a year and a half on the street and ended up in the hospital for a month and a half after overdosing on some drugs that we made."

He has more than 30 years of volunteer experience including scout leadership, coaching soccer and baseball, and coaching diverse-ability sports. He serves as a director of the Rutland Residents Association, founded the Rutland Community Clinics, and was awarded the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pin for community service. He has also been active in brain-injury advocacy and bicycle-helmet safety campaigns.

Bocskei ran for Kelowna City Council in 2022, receiving 2,923 votes (8.39% of ballots cast), and was not elected.

2026 Campaign

Bocskei's campaign positions him as a "Voice for Rutland," arguing that the neighbourhood has been underrepresented at city hall. His platform highlights include: fair representation for Rutland (citing a Rutland Recreation Park budget cut from $8.5 million); increased RCMP patrols and bolstering the auxiliary police program; treating the homelessness crisis "with the same urgency as any other mass-casualty emergency"; infrastructure before growth and adherence to the Official Community Plan; and affordable housing defined as a family spending no more than 30% of income on housing.

In an undated ForChange Kelowna candidate questionnaire, Bocskei set out more specific proposals. On homelessness, he proposed a "Strategic Triage System" that tiers resources with mass-casualty urgency — rapid re-entry into work and housing with dedicated case managers, intensive complex-care facilities, and "hard decisions" for people who refuse assistance. On traffic, he proposed signal optimization, feasibility-testing an alternating counter-flow middle lane on Highway 97 from the Bennett Bridge to Gordon Drive, and transit investment. On safety, he proposed expanded bylaw authority, more RCMP foot and mobile patrols, and "integrated safety teams" pairing police with mental-health workers.

His campaign kickoff was held September 9, 2026, at Rutland Centennial Hall.

Campaign site: https://chrisbocskei.com

Notable Items

Supportive-Housing Opposition (2019)

In 2019, Bocskei led a "Save our kids" protest against a 49-unit supportive-housing project on McCurdy Road in Rutland, opposing its proximity to schools. He also co-held a drive-thru petition against the project (with Tania Gustafson and others); the petition itself was organized by Rutland resident Audra Boudreau. Bocskei's campaign site describes the effort as "one of the most successful grassroots protests in British Columbia's history" and claims it produced "the largest petition in Kelowna's history" — a characterization credited to his campaign site, not independently verified. However, Bocskei also stated during the controversy: "We absolutely need these facilities" and "These facilities can absolutely work if they can find a model that works." He has publicly disclosed that he is himself formerly homeless and addicted, giving him direct personal experience with the populations the project was intended to serve.

Correction (2026-10-05): revised to attribute the "largest petition in Kelowna's history" characterization to Bocskei's own campaign site rather than present it as an established fact, and to credit the 2019 petition's organization to Audra Boudreau, per a reader correction supported by contemporaneous news reporting.

Harm-Reduction Vending Machine (2025)

In December 2025, Bocskei publicized a harm-reduction vending machine in Rutland alongside federal Conservative health critic Dan Mazier. He described touring the machine: "I picked a safe needle and he picked a crack pipe from the machine." The event highlighted his stated policy position on harm-reduction approaches.

Questionnaire responses

Did not respond to the Kelowna Elections questionnaire (deadline October 2, 2026).

Registered campaign links

From the official candidate registration record; presence here is not an endorsement.

Financial agent: Self

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