Former Kamloops city councilor and mayoral candidate Dieter Dudy/via Facebook
A shocker from the local political scene in Kamloops, with the unexpected passing of a well respected city councilor and former mayoral candidate.
Dieter Dudy was found dead in bed sometime over the long weekend after apparently passing away in his sleep, confirmed current mayoral candidate and friend Mike O’Reilly.
O’Reilly says Dudy was not suffering from any known illness.
He says its too early to discuss anything in the way of a memorial for Dudy, saying it was a “tough day yesterday for many” in the community and the political world as the death of Dudy slowly filtered around.
Dieter Dudy first made his foray into the political scene in Kamloops in 2014 as he ran for a city council seat, becoming the only one on council at that time that was not either an incumbent or who had previous council experience.
He would win re-election in 2018, spending another 4-years around the council ‘horseshoe’ under then-Mayor Ken Christian, who then announced his decision to retire, opening up the gates for a fresh voice to step into the Kamloops mayor’s chair in 2022.
Dieter Dudy announcing his bid to become mayor of Kamloops, April 4, 2022/via Jeff Andreas
Dudy would take that plunge along with four others on the ballot at that time, including himself, as well as incumbent city councillors Arjun Singh and Sadie Hunter, as well as former city councillor Ray Dhaliwal and political newcomer Reid Hamer-Jackson.
Tapped by a number of city hall watchers as the person who could likely emerge the winner of the 2022 mayoral election, Dudy would finish first among the incumbents in the field, but would ultimately fall to current Kamloops mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson.
From there, Dudy would — for the most part — stay clear of the political fissure which was quick to develop after the new council took office, choosing instead to focus on the Farmer’s Market and his advocacy for organic farming and his fellow farmers who would gain service from the Noble Creek Irrigation System.
When that system was in the process of being decommissioned, it would be Dudy would act as an unofficial spokesperson for the farms who relied on its water and faced significant challenges because of its impending shutdown in the summer of 2023.
Thistle Farm owner Dieter Dudy next to a truck that brought in water after the Noble Creek Irrigation System ran dry, August 8, 2023/via Rick Windjack
But Dudy would re-emerge on to the political scene at the start of 2026 by offering up thoughts on the election to come, and again hinting at another run.
However, in a bid to avoid what some viewed as a vote split among centrist candidates running for mayor in 2022, Dudy announced it was his intention to let someone “younger and focused lead us into the future.”
Speaking to Radio NL when he decided to bring his decision to members of the local media on June 10th, Dieter Dudy was asked about what he would like to see in a mayor of Kamloops coming out of the election this October.
“As far as the mayor is concerned, I really believe that individual should have some council experience so that they have at least a rudimentary understanding of how local government works,” argued Dudy, who was a strong proponent of putting first-time candidates in a local election through a formal ‘boot camp’ to prepare them for the experience they’re running to understand.
“Even if I had won the chair the last time, I knew I still had a learning curve ahead of me because I didn’t do the work that [former mayors] Peter [Milobar] and Ken [Christian] and the mayors before that did,” noted Dudy. “An individual coming out from the cold… I strongly suggest they actually run for council first and then possibly go [for mayor] after that.”
Dudy would also lament the direction that politics has taken for some in Kamloops, saying those who believe that the current council is somehow deriving personal gain from their time as decision-makers are seeing something that’s just not there.
“Nobody’s out to get anybody,” he argued as part of his suggestion that a successful candidate should trust the people who work with them. “They really are trying to do the best for this entire community,” said Dudy.
“Others may not see it that way but, you know, there’s not enough reward in terms of money or things like that to make a person want to screw the city.”
Dieter Dudy golfing during his winter months away from Kamloops/via Facebook
As for his ultimate decision not to run for the Mayor’s chair again, Dudy said on top avoiding the negatives that can go along with campaigning, he says he also had some positives in his life to think about as well.
“I think what it was, more than anything, was…looking back on the last couple of years, I’ve had a lot of things enter into my life that have changed it significantly,” said Dudy. “I’ve got my farm up for sale and I have enjoyed my last two, three winters away.”
Dudy said he also had to contemplate where he thought his life was bound to take him.
“I started asking myself the question of where I would want to find value at 71 years old moving forward,” said Dudy during the June 10th conversation with Radio NL.
“As much as I love this community and I feel I can still contribute, I sort of went: Do I want to give up four years when, you know, I’ve got less days in front of me than I do behind me?”
