FEATURED HEADLINE
Doug Gilchrist is the unelected city manager of Kelowna. This file is about how he used that chair: a public payroll he would not apologize for, and a 27.8 million dollar waterfront take that closed before the public was asked. Mayor Tom Dyas owns the political sales pitch. Council owns the yes. Gilchrist owns the staff work, the talking points, and the shrug. No charge. No conviction. No proven kickback in his name. What follows is the public record stacked in one place.
In 2019, his first full year in the job, the sunshine list put him at about 264,000 dollars. By 2024 the salary sat near 362,000 and the package with expenses near 384,000. The 2025 Statement of Financial Information printed 373,852 dollars plus about 22,000 in expenses. Carson Binda of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation called it eye watering: almost Vancouver city manager money in a city a fraction of the size, more than 100,000 above Premier David Eby. Global News asked. Gilchrist said he was certainly not going to apologize for what he gets paid or for what the city pays staff. He pointed at the airport, the landfill, and regional work. Dyas did not haul him back. In the same stretch council voted itself a large raise. Councillor Ron Cannan refused his. Gilchrist took the top line and treated the comparison as an insult.
That is the man who then helped walk a dead hotel onto the public books.
The dirt is the old Willow Inn ground at 289 Queensway, empty after the inn came down in 2009, used as parking while a tower lived on paper. Edmonton based Westcorp spent years on a high rise hotel and condo scheme. Company names on the public file: Westcorp, Westcorp Projects Inc., owner vehicle 1324632 Alberta Inc. on older permits. Philip Milroy, founder and chief executive. Gail Temple, chief operating officer and the face of the Kelowna hotel file for more than a decade. Jonathan Milroy on the asset side. Permits came and went, including files in 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2022. Plans ran as high as a 33 storey mix of rooms and residences. Temple said construction pricing and interest rates made the hotel unfeasible. The last permit died. The lot stayed a lot.
On 16 October 2025 the city announced it had already bought three pieces from Westcorp for 27.8 million dollars: 289 Queensway (assessed about 22.7 million), the office at 1440 to 1460 Pandosy (assessed about 5.8 million), and the marina and pier (about 1.6 million assessed). Staff called it a bargain because the cheque sat under combined assessment. Taxpayers heard after the sale. No referendum. No alternate approval process. No town hall before the money moved. Staff said Municipal Finance Authority borrowing stayed under the ten percent liability servicing threshold, with headroom spoken of near 60 million, so electors did not have to be asked. Legal dodge. Political fact: the largest purchase in the city’s life was treated like a private closing.
Dyas said they started talking to Westcorp because it was no longer clear the site would be built, and he did not want condos or townhouses on that water. He sold a world class hotel and marina, tourism, events. Gilchrist sold strategy. He told Jim Csek on NowMedia the city was in the driver’s seat, that this was a great public asset, that they would hold three to five years and hunt a partner. He said he had not received negative feedback. He said citizens could phone his office. Sharron Simpson, former councillor, called the buy profoundly wrong and a bailout. Cannan asked in open meeting what it had to do with water, sewers, and streets. Binda said hall should not role play as a developer with taxpayer credit. Resident Linda O’Farrell called it excessive. Oscar Haupt wrote that Gilchrist’s accountability was atrocious. Temple wrote that Westcorp still believed in a hotel even if they would not build it. The criticism existed. Gilchrist’s public answer was excitement and a direct line.
The city did not take over the cash register. Westcorp stayed on to manage the office, the marina, and the parking so rent, slips, and stall fees could be said to cover interest. Westcorp Property Management Inc. holds a B.C. brokerage licence at 200 1460 Pandosy, inside the building the city bought, effective 7 October 2025. Philip Milroy’s shop sold the dirt and kept the day job on the till. The marina is 68 slips, fuel, rentals, a public pier. Real money. The management fee, term, audit, and split were not put on the table as a public ledger.
The borrow is MFA credit. The slogan was no impact on taxation because asset revenue would carry the cost. By April 2026 council was looking at a short term MFA structure: interest only for as long as five years, then a lump of principal. Interest only is rent on debt. The 27.8 million does not vanish. If the flip is late or the income misses, the lump still lands on the city. Avington Financial Limited was hired to hunt a hotel flag, a developer, and an investment group. No flag named. No tower up. City hall is a hotel desk with a hold clock.
Gilchrist came up through city real estate, the shop that values civic dirt and structures buys. He then sat above that shop on the biggest land take in city history. The appearance is a man marking his own homework. The culture under him is the old Kelowna brand: hall as a service counter for projects, process for residents. He did not need a bag for that brand to be his. He staffs it.
He also sits on the ethics gate. The code of conduct sends complaints about councillors to the city manager and the clerk before council is even told a file exists. In 2024 that pair was Gilchrist and Stephen Fleming. They decide merit. Dyas spoke of due consideration. The public got quiet. The unelected staff boss is the first filter on whether elected people get investigated.
What Gilchrist has not done is the only work that would count as accountability. Purchase contract. Valuations. Who negotiated. Whether he recused. Westcorp management agreement, fee, and monthly take. MFA rate, interest only window, principal date. Avington mandate. Code of conduct log: date in, date out, kept or killed. Pay grid next to Eby and Vancouver with his name under it. Until those pages exist he is not the public’s manager. He is the highest paid man in the building, about 374,000 dollars, who closed a private stall with public credit, left the seller on the keys, told the town to call him if they were confused, and refused to apologize for the cheque.
In four separate emails here is a list of all of the freedom of information requests that have been requested from the city clerk of Kelowna. Laura Bentley
1. City Manager pay, contract, and who signed the raises.
Under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, to the City Clerk. I request the following information and I will also email you as well. @cityofkelowna
First, Doug Gilchrist’s employment contract and every amendment, letter of understanding, or salary schedule that changed his rate from 2022 through 2025. That is the document that says whether the extra money was a grid step, a market adjustment, a performance increase, or a one-off. No redacting the dollar figures.
Second, the exempt / management pay-band policy and every market survey or Korn Ferry review used to move those bands in 2023, 2024, and 2025, plus any memo that applied those results to the city manager position. People Services holds that. Stu Leatherdale’s department runs it. I want the date of the review, who commissioned it, and whether the city manager band was specifically adjusted.
Third, Council’s closed-meeting records that relate to the city manager’s compensation or performance for those years: the open resolution that closed the meeting under Community Charter s. 90, the agenda heading, and any resolution that came out of camera. The public would like to know whether a compensation item was even on the closed agenda that year.
Fourth, the name and title of the person who authorized the payroll change each year. In a “one employee” model, Council is the employer. Day to day, payroll still needs an authorization. Who signed the rate-change form or equivalent for 2023, 2024, and 2025.
This request is made under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. You are required to respond within 30 business days of receipt. If you withhold or redact records you must cite the specific section of the Act you rely on. Failure to respond in time is a deemed refusal. I will treat a missed deadline as a refusal and file a request for review with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.
2. Stephanie Gilchrist PREC, Coldwell Banker Horizon, civic commissions
To: City Clerk, City of Kelowna
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
I request the following records. Search from 1 January 2019 to the date you process this request. Search electronic and paper files in the Office of the City Manager, Real Estate, People Services, Finance, Legal, and the Clerk’s Office.
Name the subjects in the search: Doug Gilchrist; Stephanie Gilchrist; Stephanie Gilchrist Personal Real Estate Corporation; Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty; steph@stephaniegilchrist.com.
1. Every City of Kelowna land sale, purchase, lease, licence of occupation, or listing where a commission, referral fee, or success fee was paid, and the brokerage or licensee named. Include the property, date, amount, and payee. I want to see whether Stephanie Gilchrist PREC or Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty appears.
2. All emails, letters, meeting invitations, texts logged as records, and attachments between City staff (including the City Manager) and Stephanie Gilchrist, Stephanie Gilchrist PREC, or Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty about civic land, civic buildings, or developers with active City files.
3. Any conflict-of-interest disclosure, recusal, screening note, or legal opinion that mentions the City Manager’s household, spouse, or a realtor in that household in connection with land, planning, or procurement.
4. Vendor, realtor, or “preferred listing agent” lists used by Civic Real Estate for surplus property 2019–2026, and any appointment of an agent on a City parcel.
5. Records that show who authorized payment of any real-estate commission on a City file in those years, and the amount.
This request is made under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Respond within 30 business days of receipt. If you withhold or redact, cite the section. A missed deadline is a deemed refusal. I will file that with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.
I will also post that this request has been made. The public is entitled to know whether civic land and a household real-estate licence have touched.
Send the records to the contact on this message. Do not bury the names in a “no records” without saying you searched them.
3. Westcorp 27.8 million buy, management fee, Avington, MFA
To: City Clerk, City of Kelowna
FIPPA. 1 January 2024 to present.
Do not duplicate the employment contract, Korn Ferry, or Stephanie Gilchrist PREC searches already filed.
I request:
1. The purchase agreement and all amendments for 289 Queensway, 1440-1460 Pandosy, and the Kelowna Marina / 210 Bernard, including the 27.8 million price and any allocations.
2. All appraisals, assessments, and the staff report that recommended that price.
3. The management or operating agreement with Westcorp, Westcorp Property Management Inc., Philip Milroy, Gail Temple, or 1324632 Alberta Inc. for the office, marina, or parking: term, fee, who signed.
4. The Avington Financial Limited engagement: mandate, fee, success fee, and any report they have delivered.
5. MFA / liability-under-agreement staff reports and the interest-only and principal terms.
6. Emails, calendars, and meeting notes among Doug Gilchrist, Tom Dyas, Gail Temple, Philip Milroy, Jonathan Friesen, Luke Turri, Randall Shier, and Avington about this acquisition or a hotel partner.
7. Any recusal by the City Manager on this file.
Respond in 30 business days. Cite every withhold. A missed deadline goes to the OIPC.
4. Rail corridor, Pleasantvale / Now Canada, City Manager expenses
To: City Clerk, City of Kelowna
FIPPA. 1 January 2015 to present.
Do not duplicate the three requests already filed on the City Manager contract, Stephanie Gilchrist PREC / Coldwell Banker Horizon, or the 2025 Westcorp / Queensway / Avington file.
I request:
1. Purchase or acquisition records for the rail corridor / rail trail lands the City has described as a legacy acquisition: price, vendor, date, who negotiated, who signed, any commission.
2. City agreements, land contributions, and payments for Pleasantvale and Now Canada (or successor names) housing projects the City Manager has publicly cited: counterparties, amounts, dates.
3. City Manager expense claims and supporting receipts, 2023 through 2026, line by line. SOFI totals are not a substitute.
4. Any conflict or recusal note from Doug Gilchrist on those rail or housing files.
30 business days. Cite every withhold. Missed deadline goes to OIPC.
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