kelownaelections.ca

JC Rathwell

Candidate for Councillor

Background

JC Rathwell is a Kelowna businessman and resident of more than 30 years.

His LinkedIn profile lists a range of business ventures: founder of Health Wealth Travel Academy; CEO and founder of Empire Business Solutions (Sep 2018–Jan 2022); President and CEO of Homefinders (Apr 1992–Sep 2002), which he has described as the "largest rental information service with over 50 offices across Canada"; captain and owner of KelownaDinnerCruises.com and Executive Houseboat Charters (Apr 2002–Sep 2014); and licensing specialist at iSupportLocal.Biz (Mar 2021–Jan 2022).

A Kelowna Capital News opinion column reported that Rathwell "now operates a home-finding and property business, as well as a car rental venture that he claims was shut down by the city."

In 2021, he launched the iSupport Local app to help local entrepreneurs advertise, described at the time as "the former business owner of Kelowna Cruises."

He currently runs an AI-agent business helping local companies integrate AI into their workflows.

Rathwell has run for Kelowna council three times previously. The Kelowna Daily Courier reported: "Rathwell ran for council in 2005, finishing second-to-last among the 31 candidates. He ran again in 2008, finishing 30th among 36 candidates. But his upward mobility reversed itself when he ran again in 2011, finishing 35th among 40 candidates."

An earlier KelownaNow report described him as having "unsuccessfully run for council twice before," while the Daily Courier enumerated three prior runs. The discrepancy has not been reconciled against an official results primary.

2026 Campaign

Rathwell is running as part of the BRACE for Change (Businesses and Residents Against Crime Everywhere) coalition slate alongside Humberto Morales, Corey Severin, and Rob Wilkinson.

He has described himself as "a 'full-on conservative'" and said his target audience is not people who "are woke and don't want that technology and don't want change and want the status quo."

His BRACE for Change bio states: "My mission is simple: take back our streets, back our local businesses, and bring an end to the nonsense. I stand for a leadership that is awake, not woke—focused on public safety and hard-working families rather than ideological agendas."

The BRACE for Change shared platform includes ten commitments organized around: safer streets, wildfire protection, affordable housing, stronger small business, smarter transportation, and accountability and transparency.

Rathwell has posted roughly 40 AI-generated campaign videos on YouTube, using an AI agent he calls "Lisa." The videos are labeled "made with AI." He has described the process: "Her name's Lisa… I basically just talk to her and I say, I want to do something about the homeless."

Elections BC confirmed that "there are no rules or regulations in (the Local Election Campaign Financing Act) around AI, including the use of AI in developing ads or campaigning."

The Kelowna Daily Courier reported that Rathwell "declined to provide a real, current picture of himself" and that his campaign material uses an AI-generated avatar.

His personal campaign site, voteformeordont.com, describes itself as "a blunt, no-filter public launchpad for my municipal election ideas, my business background, and my feedback request on whether I should run for Mayor, City Council, or not run at all."

A Kelowna Capital News opinion column ("The Turner Files") reported that the BRACE for Change website text and videos were flagged by an AI-detection tool as machine-generated, and questioned whether platform content written by a chatbot reflects genuine individual candidates.

YouTube channel: "JC Rathwell" (547 subscribers). Instagram: @rathwelljc. Facebook pages: "Braceforchange" and "TakeBackKelowna."

Campaign site: https://voteformeordont.com

Questionnaire responses

Answers to the standardized Kelowna Elections questionnaire, sent in identical form to every councillor candidate. Published verbatim; received 2026-09-21.

1. Housing affordability

I'd allow secondary homes and tiny homes on existing residential lots so owners can add income and renters can find realistic prices without huge land costs. I'm willing to accept more density and sensible height in serviced areas, and to simplify approvals for these units, but I won't blindly slash DCCs across the board without a clear infrastructure funding plan.

2. Public safety

We don't have a homeless problem, we have a drug and soft-on-crime problem, and people feel it every day. I'd use the levy to strengthen enforcement on repeat violent and property offenders, while backing practical treatment and mental-health supports that move people off the street instead of cycling them through endless "services" with no accountability for outcomes.

3. Homelessness & the supervised consumption site

I do not support renewing the supervised consumption site; it's become part of managing the problem instead of solving it. I see three groups: people who genuinely need housing, people trapped in addiction who need real treatment (including involuntary in some cases), and criminals who exploit both — those criminals need tougher enforcement and consequences, not a protected zone to operate in.

4. Taxes & budget

Breaking the $1-billion mark with a 4.37–4.40% tax hike is not "modest" when families and small businesses are already stretched. I'd cut bloated management pay, vanity projects, and non-essential spending, protect front-line services and core infrastructure, and only increase taxes beyond inflation if council can publicly show there's truly no waste left to cut.

5. Growth & infrastructure funding

Growth should be paid for by smarter targeting of development revenues, hard priorities, and provincial support — not endless property-tax hikes and fee increases. My top infrastructure priority is fixing Highway 97 gridlock and key choke points, because if people and goods can't move, nothing else in the economy works properly.

6. Transit & getting around

My top priority is a practical mix: targeted road fixes on the worst choke points, safer walking and cycling routes where people actually use them, and transit focused on real worker and student routes — not just "nice-to-have" lines. Every change should be judged by time saved and usage, not just press releases.

7. Downtown & the local economy

I've owned downtown businesses for about 10 years and my family rides bikes there 2–3 times a week in summer — downtown matters to us. I'd push tougher enforcement on drug dealing, vandalism, and repeat offenders, streamline permits for legitimate businesses and events, and make downtown feel like a safe, vibrant hub for visitors and locals so the tourism and local economy stay strong across all districts.

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 2026-09-27.

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

I support a practical bylaw that protects residents' peace while recognizing that growers need effective tools to protect crops. I would support restricted daytime operating hours, a midday quiet period, reasonable firing limits, and setbacks from homes and schools, with flexibility where a grower can demonstrate a genuine crop-protection need. Agriculture matters to Kelowna, but so does treating neighbouring residents fairly. BC guidance allows municipalities to regulate these devices through noise bylaws or a farm bylaw, so the City should set clear, enforceable rules rather than leave everyone fighting about it.

2. Prospera Place / MNP Place operator and transparency

Taxpayers deserve to see how major City contracts are awarded. I would release the evaluation criteria, scoring weights, final scores, financial impact to the City, confirmation of whether an agreement is signed, and a clear explanation of why the selected proposal was judged best value—while redacting only truly confidential commercial information. This is exactly the type of decision that makes residents question City Hall when the public is asked to accept it without seeing the full facts. GSL has publicly called for those details before election day, while the City's operator transition to Oak View Group Canada is planned for 2029.

3. Highway 97 right-of-way protection

The bridge is not the main problem—traffic flow is. The real bottlenecks are poorly timed lights, especially around Highway 97 and Water Street, plus the flow before and after the bridge. I would create a transportation working group to bring Council practical recommendations on adaptive signal timing, pedestrian-controlled lights near the bridge, pedestrian overpasses in chronic crossing areas, transit improvements, and any future widening only where it clearly solves a bottleneck; property owners must be consulted early and any long-term right-of-way acquisition must be transparent, fair, and costed before Council commits. The current corridor concept would preserve room for future transit lanes, has no committed funding or construction timeline, and staff are expected to report back after engaging affected owners.

Registered campaign links

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

Financial agent: Self

← Back to all candidates