Petition addressed to:
City of Kamloops
The City is advancing a now- $211M Performing Arts Centre with no updated business case, no independent review, no archaeological assessment, and no real vote — during the steepest tax increase in city history.
We are calling on the City to pause the project now, and to let residents decide in a referendum during the municipal election on October 17, 2026
Reason
Pause the Kamloops Performing Arts Centre (PAC) Until a 2026 Referendum
In 2024, the City of Kamloops approved a Performing Arts Centre costing $154 million, including a $140 million taxpayer-funded loan. Before construction has begun, the project has already escalated to $211 million.
The original 2019 business case has never been updated to reflect current costs, risks, or operating requirements.
Many residents value arts and culture—but the City is pushing ahead with this project without the basic information or transparency required for a project of this size.
The PAC is advancing with no published:
• updated business case,
• current cost model,
• full risk analysis,
• complete site assessment,
• updated operating model showing annual costs or revenue,
• explanation for why $7 million was approved for design work before updating the business case or validating true costs,
• independent third-party review or value-for-money audit, which most cities require before approving major borrowing,
• publicly disclosed archaeological impact assessment, despite the downtown area having high Indigenous archaeological potential,
and
• no real public vote.
Residents are facing the steepest tax increase in Kamloops history, and no long-term operating cost information has been provided. This is not the time to commit taxpayers to hundreds of millions in generational debt.
Council has not required management to provide any confirmation that the cost estimates are current, realistic, or defensible under today’s economic conditions.
Council has committed residents to a $140M taxpayer loan without operating cost projections, revenue projections, or safeguards that any responsible funder would require. Taxpayers are being treated as the bank—without the information a bank would require.
We are asking for four steps:
- Pause the PAC immediately.
- Complete updated costing, operating projections, due diligence, and risk analysis.
- Release all updated information publicly.
- Then—let residents decide in a referendum during the municipal election on October 17, 2026.
This is not a “no” to a performing arts centre.
It is a responsible pause during a difficult financial period — and a commitment to transparency, accountability, and a real public vote.
Add your name if you believe Kamloops taxpayers deserve an informed choice, not a rushed decision without a meaningful vote.
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Costs are increasing drastically and we haven’t even started yet. This is not the economy to be starting a major project like this. Most taxpayers, like myself, have to keep up with the cost of living, utility and property tax hikes, the insane cost of food, the requests and ridiculous legal battles between the Mayer and the city council members. Enough already. It’s not an emergency and we need to get back on track. Pause the project, get fully transparent with the citizens of Kamloops regarding ALL of the proposed budgets plans with all the reasoning and exact spending desired. This is NOT the time to begin this. Pause it, please. And when you do try again to pass this, don’t increase the coat “due to pausing the project in 2026”.