kelownaelections.ca

Maxine DeHart

Incumbent councillor

Background

Maxine DeHart has served as a Kelowna City Councillor since 2011, now seeking a fifth term (2026–2030).

DeHart moved to Kelowna from Calgary in 1971 after receiving her Business Studies Diploma from Mount Royal College. She worked for Scotiabank for 13 years before joining the Ramada Hotel & Conference Centre in 1985, where she has served as Director of Sales for over 35 years.

In addition to her council and hotel roles, DeHart writes the weekly "Straight from DeHart" business column for Kelowna Capital News (celebrating its 25th anniversary) and contributes regularly on AM 1150. She donates all of her column salary to local charities.

Her community involvement includes founding the Maxine DeHart United Way Ramada Hotel Drive-Thru Breakfast, which in its 22nd year has raised over $1,000,000 for the local United Way. She was appointed Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the British Columbia Dragoons.

Honours include: 1999 Community Award – Citizen of the Year; 2002 Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal; 2002 YM/YWCA Women of Distinction Award; 2007 United Way Award of Distinction.

She currently serves as alternate board member on the Regional District of Central Okanagan, and on the boards of the Downtown Kelowna Association, City of Kelowna Civic and Community Awards, and Kelowna Chamber of Commerce.

2026 Campaign

DeHart announced her re-election bid on August 27, 2026, stating: "It has been one of the great honours of my life to be elected and serve the people of Kelowna." She was among the last incumbent councillors to announce, joining Couns. Rick Webber, Gord Lovegrove, and Mohini Singh.

Her platform highlights "opening many new parks, advancing new recreation facilities, supporting our agriculture community, investing in vital infrastructure improvements… making many positive contributions to public safety," with a stated goal of "making Kelowna a safer, healthier, and a more prosperous city."

In an undated ForChange Kelowna candidate questionnaire, DeHart elaborated on her record and priorities. On safety, she said she advocates a "Kelowna-only" RCMP contingent and pressing senior governments for mandatory-care facilities and stronger action on chronic offenders; she stated the last term added 33 RCMP officers, 17 bylaw officers, and 18 firefighters. On housing, she said Kelowna had exceeded its Housing Supply Act targets by 150 per cent in the first year and that the rental vacancy rate moved from below 1 per cent to about 7 per cent, calling the city's "Tiny Homes" pilot a success. These figures are as stated by DeHart and have not been independently verified in this profile.

At the third Castanet election forum (Revelry Kelowna, October 1, 2026), DeHart said the city has studied three policing models — keeping the RCMP, a municipal force, or a hybrid — and that the RCMP currently carries roughly a 10% federal cost-share that a city-run force would lose; she said a request about two terms ago to give bylaw officers more enforcement authority was declined by the province, and that any change is a decision for the next council. Asked about the Hotel Eldorado boardwalk dispute, she declined to discuss it, saying the matter is before the courts, and said she attended the Callahan family's 100th-anniversary event as a personal friend since age 19, having paid for her own ticket.

Campaign site: http://www.maxinedehart.ca/ Social media: Instagram @MAXINEDEHART (https://www.instagram.com/MAXINEDEHART); Facebook https://www.facebook.com/maxinedehart; X/Twitter @MaxineDehart (https://x.com/MaxineDehart). Financial Agent: Glen Jackson (250-878-8523).

Notable Items

Council pay raise vote (April 2024)

In April 2024, DeHart voted in favour of a 35% increase in councillor remuneration, which raised pay from approximately $43,000 to $58,080. She was named among the five councillors voting in favour, along with Loyal Wooldridge, Luke Stack, Charlie Hodge, and Mayor Tom Dyas. Gord Lovegrove, Ron Cannan, Mohini Singh, and Rick Webber opposed.

The April 15 final vote is logged as "unanimous" in the official record despite the division — the four councillors who opposed the raise failed to register their no-votes at the final vote, and a reconsideration motion was defeated.

Recurring conflicts of interest and recusals

DeHart has repeatedly recused herself from council discussions and votes citing conflicts of interest. On the Kelowna Springs golf-course land swap (2026), she declared a conflict because the Ramada Hotel's owners own two golf courses in Kelowna and land adjacent to Kelowna Springs, and she is actively involved in promoting them. She stated: "Too many conflicts," and noted she always consults city clerks on such matters.

DeHart has also consistently recused herself on city discussions and votes relating to short-term rentals, because she and her husband own two downtown suites.

In 2025, DeHart earned $57,748 in remuneration and claimed $7,437 in expenses.

Endorsements

ForChange Kelowna recommends Maxine DeHart as one of eight candidates for Kelowna city council in the 2026 election. ForChange Kelowna is a Kelowna volunteer group that reviewed candidates' questionnaire responses, held structured interviews and attended forums; it lists its eight recommendations alphabetically rather than by ranking. The group describes itself as independent and not affiliated with any political party, slate or business organization, and is registered with Elections BC as a third-party advertising sponsor (principal official Francis Braam).

Questionnaire responses

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

Follow-up responses

Answers to the Kelowna Elections follow-up questionnaire on three live community issues, sent in identical form to every councillor candidate; received 2026-10-06. Published verbatim; a City of Kelowna communications statement DeHart also supplied has been omitted, so question 2 shows only her own response.

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

Yes, I would support a bylaw that balances the needs of farmers with the quality of life of nearby residents. I would support reasonable limits on operating hours, firing frequency for sure and the location of devices near home and schools, while allowing farmers to protect their crops effectively.

2. Prospera Place / MNP Place future operator and transparency

I support and have absolutely supported transparency and appropriate public oversight of major City agreements. I would want the evaluation criteria, scoring methodology, final scores, the key terms the agreement, financial commitments and the reasons for the selection made pubic [sic], while respecting legitimate commercial and confidential information.

3. Highway 97 right-of-way protection

The Ministry of Transportation (MOT) has asked the city to protect the Highway 97 right-of-way for future widening and transportation. However, before the city commits significant funding or acquires properties, I want to see a clear provincial funding commitment and timeline. At the same time, we need to advocate strongly for our fair share of transit infrastructure funding and we need to invest in transit and other congestion-management measures now. Any property impacts should be handled fairly, transparently and with appropriate compensation directly from the Province of B.C. who has given us that direction. I have always advocated for investing in transit or other congestion measures, and I understand that Kelowna has not received their near or fair share of the gas tax monies. Also, I played a major role in securing the property for the new transit garage and yard in 2017.

Registered campaign links

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

Financial agent: Glen Jackson

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