kelownaelections.ca

Gord Lovegrove

Incumbent councillor

Background

Dr. Gord (Gordon) Lovegrove, P.Eng., MBA, PhD, has served as a Kelowna city councillor since 2022. He is a professor at UBC Okanagan and helped establish the UBCO School of Engineering in 2005; he has said he plans to retire from UBCO later in 2026.

He holds a BASc, MEng, and PhD in civil engineering from UBC and an MBA in public policy from Simon Fraser University. He designed the UBC student U-Pass transit program, which UBC credits with a roughly 300 per cent increase in transit ridership.

His regional and board roles have included the Regional District of Central Okanagan board, the Sterile Insect Release Program, the Southern Interior Local Government Association (SILGA) board, and the Bio-Solids Board, alongside prior work as a federal departmental science advisor on transport, infrastructure, and climate change.

2026 Campaign

Lovegrove was the first sitting councillor to confirm a re-election bid, announcing on January 25, 2026. He describes himself as a "data-driven futurist" and has emphasized clean technology, using artificial intelligence to speed up development applications, and public performance dashboards.

In an undated ForChange Kelowna candidate questionnaire, Lovegrove set out his re-election platform. On public safety and homelessness, he stated that about one-third of unhoused people can be rehoused through targeted supports while about two-thirds face serious mental-health or addiction issues requiring more intensive intervention (his figures), and he pledged to continue pushing the Province to establish a compassionate mandatory "campus of care," advocate for criminal-justice reform and additional Crown prosecutors, and implement Kelowna's Community Safety Plan. On liveability, he said he would support development only where roads, utilities, transit and services can support it, favour housing diversity and gentle densification over sprawl, and back a regional congestion-reduction strategy. On the economy, he proposed an "EcDev Champion" to pursue local and global partnerships, clean-tech incentives for farmers and traditional industries, and support for emerging sectors such as aerospace, hydrogen and AI.

In an undated Strong Towns Kelowna candidate questionnaire, Lovegrove set out transport and fiscal positions. He stated that a Joint City/Ministry study concluded a second bridge is not the answer and that adding transit is, and he said his explicit push has been to explore a light-rail corridor between the airport (YLW) and downtown, plus "tram-train" inter-city links through the Valley. He set a target of having 90% of homes and businesses within a five-minute walk of a bus. He called for phasing out parking minimums through incentives, citing roughly $50,000 per underground parking stall (5–10% of a multi-family unit's cost). On process, he proposed restoring council advisory committees, allowing delegations at regular council meetings, and holding council meetings in neighbourhoods. On finances, he advocated a line-by-line budget audit and said he would remove more than $210 million in capital spending on a 2.3 km Clement extension, which he called a "cross-town connector to nowhere," and restore the audit committee to external auditors. These cost and congestion figures are as stated by Lovegrove and have not been independently verified in this profile.

At the second Castanet election forum (Revelry Kelowna, September 24, 2026), Lovegrove said he introduced the motion to declare a climate emergency and received his "first and only" hate mail for it, framing the climate push around a sixth year of drought, wildfire smoke, and making better use of the shoulder seasons. He reiterated his valley-rail proposal, saying it has the support of regional districts between Osoyoos and Kamloops and could be built and operating within about ten years of starting planning, acting as an alternative to a second bridge. On the current council's record, he said he has graded it a "B" and that it established six key performance indicators. These timelines and figures are as stated by Lovegrove and have not been independently verified.

Campaign site: https://lovegrovekelowna.ca

Social media: Facebook (Lovegrovekelowna); Instagram @gordlovegrove; LinkedIn.

Notable Items

Council expenses (2025)

Lovegrove's 2025 council expenses were $10,420, the highest among the eight councillors and $1,789 above the next-highest (Ron Cannan at $8,631). This is not a city record — Lovegrove's own 2023 expenses were $11,411, and Mayor Tom Dyas billed $18,424 in 2025. Lovegrove attributed the total mainly to attending Southern Interior Local Government Association conferences as council's only SILGA board representative.

Revitalization Tax Exemption Vote (September 21, 2026)

At the September 21, 2026 council meeting, councillors Ron Cannan and Gord Lovegrove were recorded as opposed ("Councillors Cannan and Lovegrove-Opposed") to the Revitalization Tax Exemption Agreement for 135 Barber Rd, a 144-unit purpose-built market rental; the motion (moved by Stack, seconded by Hodge) carried. The staff report pegs the estimated annual tax impact at $166,275 — foregone municipal property-tax revenue under the Revitalization Tax Exemption program, not a grant or a new spending item.

Follow-up responses

Answers to the Kelowna Elections follow-up questionnaire on three live community issues, sent in identical form to every councillor candidate. Published verbatim; received 2026-09-30.

1. Audible bird-scare devices ("bird cannons")

I have already been talking to Alex and the rest of the residents who organized that petition; last Monday at council we also discussed it. The farmers & farms are protected by 'Right to Farm' legislation that predates many of the complainants, and allow reasonable farm practises. Some recent changes in those practises appears to be the rub — triple bang every five minutes, louder cannons. Folks on Wilden are now being kept up. Residents appreciate that farming needs to happen, it's our food security. One compromise that residents are suggesting. How about turning off the cannons mid-day, when most birds are not roosting? Or every other hour. Residents and farmers need to meet and find solutions — both sides have valid needs. The city can act as convenor.

2. Prospera Place / MNP Place operator and transparency

All land & personnel deals are protected under the provincial Community Charter legislation, to protect privacy of both businesses & taxpayers. Council does have authority to release any and all details when the time is right. We aren't there yet, but I will push to release all relevant details as soon as possible.

3. Highway 97 right-of-way protection

We have enough highway right of way for a six lane highway right thru Kelowna. We also know that transit is the future of mobility across our valley. We cannot all drive cars, so we need to plan for more choice. My 20 years of research and engineering design suggest a valley rail is more affordable, safer, and more inclusive (think seniors, handicap, youth, the ill, & visitors), with links to more affordable housing & jobs for all. Integrating it with a doubling of bus fleet would see congestion reduce by at least half, effectively adding three more lanes to our highway without the associated property impacts and costs, at half the price! Check out details on my web page at lovegrovekelowna.ca for a 16 page downloadable platform, plus copies of my peer-reviewed published research with all the numbers!

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: Karen Lovegrove

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