Les Bellamy
Council · Kelowna
Downtown 37 yrs
About
Kelowna resident for 37 years, business owner and community advocate with decades of leadership experience. I believe in practical problem-solving, responsible spending, accountability and getting results. Less Politics. Real Solutions.
Policy commitments
Buildings
We all want healthy, affordable, and comfortable homes. These policies will help to lower energy bills, cut pollution, and improve indoor air quality.
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Support electrification of new buildings.
Neutral
✓
Incentivize electric heat pumps and air filtration systems.
Supportive
✓
Incentivize renewable energy, battery storage, and smart-grid technologies in new and existing buildings to improve energy security.
Supportive
✓
Scale up energy retrofits for existing homes, businesses, and public buildings.
Supportive
~
Implement a 'right to cool' bylaw to protect tenants during extreme heat events.
Neutral
Climate Justice
Our community is already experiencing the harmful impacts of climate change caused by fossil fuel pollution, and taxpayers are on the hook to upgrade and repair critical infrastructure.
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Endorse the fossil fuel treaty and commit to phase out fossil fuels.
Neutral
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Enact a moratorium on AI data centres to protect our energy and water resources.
Neutral
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Pursue available legal options to recover a fair share of the climate costs facing our community from fossil fuel companies and other big polluters.
Neutral
✓
Collaborate with Indigenous peoples as partners in the stewardship of the land, air, and water, and work towards reconciliation.
Supportive
Ecosystems
The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat all rely on healthy ecosystems. Nature can also help protect our community from extreme weather by controlling floods, protecting shorelines, and cooling neighbourhoods. Access to nature improves the health and well-being of residents, and supports biodiversity.
✓
Protect and restore ecosystems, which are essential to human survival, health, and economic well-being.
Supportive
✓
Expand and protect tree canopy, parks, and green infrastructure to cool neighbourhoods, clean air, and manage stormwater.
Supportive
✓
Prioritize native tree planting in all areas, especially those with low tree cover, higher population densities, and more vulnerable residents.
Supportive
~
Create connected urban greenways for people and wildlife.
Neutral
Land Use
We envision vibrant, walkable communities that protect nature and improve food security.
✓
Build affordable homes near jobs, schools, shops, and transit.
Supportive
~
Upgrade critical infrastructure for heat, fire, flood, and storm resilience.
Neutral
✓
Increase food security by supporting local agriculture and community gardens.
Supportive
Transport
Connecting neighbourhoods through public transit and active transportation networks will cut pollution, improve public health, and make our communities more affordable (and fun!).
✓
Deliver reliable, frequent, affordable local transit.
Supportive
✓
Advocate to improve regional public transit between communities.
Supportive
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Build bike and roll networks that are safe for everyone.
Neutral
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Expand EV charging infrastructure.
Neutral
Watersheds
Climate change, increasing populations, and overconsumption threaten our water security. Healthy watersheds and forests are critical to support clean drinking water, stormwater management, climate resilience, and biodiversity for future generations.
✓
Implement water conservation plans and educate the public to conserve drinking water.
Supportive
✓
Protect and restore watersheds as vital municipal infrastructure.
Supportive
~
Develop and implement a water security plan.
Neutral
Zero Waste
Zero waste policies reduce pollution, keep waste out of landfills, build resilient local economies, and safeguard public health by shifting society away from a disposable culture toward a sustainable circular economy.
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Implement zero waste bylaws to divert organic waste and recyclables from disposal.
Neutral
✓
Support the development of a circular economy to eliminate waste and improve resilience.
Supportive
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Implement bylaws to eliminate waste from new buildings, renovation, and demolition projects and to use existing buildings as efficiently as possible.
Neutral
✓ Supportive
~ Neutral
× Opposed
– No response
Climate action
How have you contributed to climate action in your community through advocacy, past work, advisory committees, volunteer work, and/or reducing your personal carbon footprint?
Much of my contribution has come through the building industry. I have served as co-chair of the CHBA Central Okanagan Step Code Committee and have been involved in discussions around improving the energy performance of new homes.
I support building better-performing, more energy-efficient and resilient homes. At the same time, my experience has taught me that every new requirement has consequences, including cost. Good climate policy needs to consider both environmental performance and whether people can still afford the homes we are asking them to build.
On a personal level, I try to be practical about reducing waste and energy use. For me, climate action works best when we can demonstrate measurable environmental benefits and understand the economic consequences of the policies we adopt.
I support building better-performing, more energy-efficient and resilient homes. At the same time, my experience has taught me that every new requirement has consequences, including cost. Good climate policy needs to consider both environmental performance and whether people can still afford the homes we are asking them to build.
On a personal level, I try to be practical about reducing waste and energy use. For me, climate action works best when we can demonstrate measurable environmental benefits and understand the economic consequences of the policies we adopt.
Questions for Kelowna
Would you accelerate Kelowna's adoption of the Zero Carbon Step Code, and what other measures would you support to improve building efficiency and resilience to extreme heat?
I would not accelerate the Zero Carbon Step Code simply to get there ahead of the provincial schedule. I support better-performing, more energy-efficient and resilient buildings, but affordability has to be part of that conversation.
I have worked directly with Step Code through the building industry, and I have seen both the benefits and the added costs that increasingly stringent requirements can create. The Province is already moving toward zero-carbon new construction by 2030.
Before Kelowna moves faster, I would want to understand the measurable environmental benefit, the cost to the homeowner, whether the local industry is ready, and whether there are more cost-effective ways to achieve the same result.
For extreme heat, I support practical measures such as better building envelopes, passive shading, appropriate glazing, efficient cooling and heat-pump systems, and designing buildings and neighbourhoods with summer heat in mind.
We can continually build better, but at some point we also have to ask what people can afford.
I have worked directly with Step Code through the building industry, and I have seen both the benefits and the added costs that increasingly stringent requirements can create. The Province is already moving toward zero-carbon new construction by 2030.
Before Kelowna moves faster, I would want to understand the measurable environmental benefit, the cost to the homeowner, whether the local industry is ready, and whether there are more cost-effective ways to achieve the same result.
For extreme heat, I support practical measures such as better building envelopes, passive shading, appropriate glazing, efficient cooling and heat-pump systems, and designing buildings and neighbourhoods with summer heat in mind.
We can continually build better, but at some point we also have to ask what people can afford.
What policies would you support to protect mature trees, expand Kelowna's tree canopy, and increase shade on both public and private land?
I strongly support protecting and expanding Kelowna’s tree canopy. Trees provide shade, reduce heat and are an important part of what makes neighbourhoods enjoyable places to live.
On public land, I would like to see more trees incorporated into streets, sidewalks, parks and other public spaces, particularly where shade is limited.
On private land, I prefer incentives and good planning over simply adding more regulation. Programs like NeighbourWoods encourage homeowners to plant trees at a relatively low cost, and I would support expanding approaches like that.
With development, we should preserve mature trees where reasonably possible and ensure that when trees must be removed, appropriate replacement planting is part of the plan.
The goal should be simple: more healthy trees in the right places, with enough space to actually grow to maturity.
On public land, I would like to see more trees incorporated into streets, sidewalks, parks and other public spaces, particularly where shade is limited.
On private land, I prefer incentives and good planning over simply adding more regulation. Programs like NeighbourWoods encourage homeowners to plant trees at a relatively low cost, and I would support expanding approaches like that.
With development, we should preserve mature trees where reasonably possible and ensure that when trees must be removed, appropriate replacement planting is part of the plan.
The goal should be simple: more healthy trees in the right places, with enough space to actually grow to maturity.
What would you fund or change over the next four years to improve public transit, walking and cycling, and reduce transportation emissions?
I support giving people more transportation choices, but those investments need to reflect how people actually move around Kelowna.
I would prioritize making transit more convenient and reliable, particularly on routes where ridership can justify increased frequency. Walking infrastructure should focus on completing missing sidewalk connections and making it safer to walk between neighbourhoods, schools, businesses and transit.
I support cycling infrastructure where there is demonstrated demand and where it can be built cost-effectively. I don't believe success should be measured by how many kilometres of bike lanes we build. It should be measured by how many people actually use them and whether the investment improves the transportation network.
Kelowna also has geographic realities. Many families, seniors, tradespeople and businesses will continue to depend on vehicles. Our transportation system needs to work for all of them.
My approach would be to measure results, invest where the demand exists and build a transportation network that gives people practical choices rather than trying to force one mode of transportation over another.
I would prioritize making transit more convenient and reliable, particularly on routes where ridership can justify increased frequency. Walking infrastructure should focus on completing missing sidewalk connections and making it safer to walk between neighbourhoods, schools, businesses and transit.
I support cycling infrastructure where there is demonstrated demand and where it can be built cost-effectively. I don't believe success should be measured by how many kilometres of bike lanes we build. It should be measured by how many people actually use them and whether the investment improves the transportation network.
Kelowna also has geographic realities. Many families, seniors, tradespeople and businesses will continue to depend on vehicles. Our transportation system needs to work for all of them.
My approach would be to measure results, invest where the demand exists and build a transportation network that gives people practical choices rather than trying to force one mode of transportation over another.
Would you support expediting composting programs and invest in the required facilities in Kelowna? If so, what would you do to make it happen sooner?
I support diverting food waste from the landfill, but I would not commit taxpayers to an expensive program simply for the sake of implementing it sooner.
The previous regional curbside proposal raised legitimate concerns around cost and excluded multifamily housing, which is a significant issue in a growing city like Kelowna. I would want to see a revised business case that includes apartments and condos, identifies the required processing infrastructure and demonstrates the environmental benefit relative to the cost.
We should also recognize that composting already happens locally. Yard waste is composted at the Glenmore Landfill, and the RDCO supports backyard composting.
If a broader food-waste program can demonstrate good environmental results at a reasonable cost to taxpayers, I would support it. But I want the numbers first.
The previous regional curbside proposal raised legitimate concerns around cost and excluded multifamily housing, which is a significant issue in a growing city like Kelowna. I would want to see a revised business case that includes apartments and condos, identifies the required processing infrastructure and demonstrates the environmental benefit relative to the cost.
We should also recognize that composting already happens locally. Yard waste is composted at the Glenmore Landfill, and the RDCO supports backyard composting.
If a broader food-waste program can demonstrate good environmental results at a reasonable cost to taxpayers, I would support it. But I want the numbers first.
What two climate actions would you champion during your term, and what measurable progress should Kelowna residents expect within four years?
My first priority would be expanding Kelowna's urban tree canopy. I would support increased planting on public land, protecting mature trees where practical and expanding programs that encourage residents to plant trees on private property. Progress should be measured by actual canopy coverage and tree survival, not simply how many trees we plant.
My second would be improving transportation efficiency. That includes better transit where ridership supports it, completing important walking connections, and reducing congestion through better transportation planning. Progress should be measured through actual ridership, usage, travel times and congestion, rather than simply how much infrastructure we build.
More broadly, I would apply the same test to climate initiatives that I apply to other City spending: What are we trying to accomplish, what will it cost, and how will we measure whether it actually worked?
My second would be improving transportation efficiency. That includes better transit where ridership supports it, completing important walking connections, and reducing congestion through better transportation planning. Progress should be measured through actual ridership, usage, travel times and congestion, rather than simply how much infrastructure we build.
More broadly, I would apply the same test to climate initiatives that I apply to other City spending: What are we trying to accomplish, what will it cost, and how will we measure whether it actually worked?
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