Kathrine Blair-Wunderlich – Candidate for City Councillor

I may be a little biased as her daughter, but I’ve also had a lifetime to see who my mom is when nobody is campaigning. For as long as I can remember, she has been someone who stands up for people. She has spent years as a labour leader, organizing and advocating for workers and their rights. More recently, I’ve watched her advocate for seniors, helping people navigate difficult tenancy issues and successfully work through the RTB process. My mom is incredibly principled. She knows what she believes in and she doesn’t compromise her values simply because it would be easier. But being principled has never meant being unwilling to listen. She knows how to work with people who have very different perspectives, find common ground, and move things forward without losing sight of what matters to her. Kamloops has been her home for decades. She wants to see it continue to grow, evolve and progress, but not at the expense of the people who are most vulnerable. She sees how unaffordable the city has become. She hears from seniors and longtime residents who are genuinely worried about whether they will be able to afford to remain in the homes and community they’ve spent decades building their lives in. Those concerns aren’t theoretical to her. They’re the concerns of people she knows, listens to and has spent years standing beside. There are plenty of things I could say about why I’m proud of my mom. But what matters most to me in seeing her put her name forward for Council is that the person Kamloops is seeing now is the same person I have always known: someone who cares deeply about her community, stands firmly by her principles, listens to people who see things differently, and believes that progress should include everyone.