Author, entrepreneur running for Kelowna council

Joseph runs for city council

Photo: Daniel Joseph

A Kelowna man who made headlines years ago when he accused the People’s Party of Canada of racism is running for city council.

In 2019, Daniel Joseph resigned his position of the president of the Kelowna-Lake Country electoral district association for the upstart People's Party of Canada over what he called racist and bigoted views of party members. He later ran as an independent candidate.

Now, he’s working at a local Dairy Queen and runs “various entrepreneurial businesses” like a small social media agency, an asset management business and a creative agency. He also wrote a book in 2020 on his experience with racism.

In announcing his candidacy, he says homelessness, drug abuse and crime are his top priorities while acknowledging they are issues they require help from upper levels of government.

"It could be a bit of political suicide because every trend is showing that it's getting worse and worse year after year, but I would love to take responsibility and really work with both private and public institutions to address the issues," Joseph said.

He said housing affordability is also a big problem in the city.

"We do need densification," he added, "but we need smarter densification.”

His candidacy website can be found here.