Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen · Electoral Area F
A working platform
for Area F.
I'm John Rousseau — a licensed builder, master joiner, and industrial designer running for Area F Director. Our communities have practical problems that deserve practical answers: rebuild Faulder, resolve Sage Mesa's water, adopt our own Official Community Plan, get serious about wildfire, speed up building permits, legalise carriage houses on every parcel, fix the Faulder water system, make it easier to run a small business from your property, and protect rural landowners from unmanaged encampments.
Platform
Nine priorities. All buildable.
These are the files I will carry into the RDOS board room on day one — with the technical detail and the coalition-building the work actually takes.
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01
Faulder rebuild
Stand with Faulder-area residents recovering from the Bald Range wildfire. Push RDOS, the province, and insurers on debris removal, permit turnaround, water and power restoration, and the interim housing rules that let people stay while they rebuild.
- Clear, published rebuilding path for fire-loss properties
- Permit and inspection support that recognises total-loss conditions
- Advocacy on insurance, mortgage, and disaster-relief coordination
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02
Sage Mesa water
The failed $33-million borrowing referendum did not solve the water system — it stalled it. Define and phase the engineering scope, secure grants and provincial participation before going back to assent, and use Naramata and West Bench as the RDOS precedents for how a fair deal actually gets done.
- Scope and phase the upgrade — treatment, storage, distribution
- Grant capture and provincial cost-sharing before any referendum
- Transparent per-parcel cost model residents can check
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03
An Area F OCP
Withdraw Area F from the consolidated Okanagan Valley OCP process and adopt an Area F-specific plan. Four years without adoption, real engagement gaps, and unresolved implementation actions are the case. Areas E and I have already stepped back — F should too, and finish the plan our communities actually live with.
- Area F-specific engagement in Faulder, West Bench, and Meadow Valley
- Land-use rules that reflect fire, water, and geotechnical realities
- Implementation actions with dates, budgets, and named owners
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04
Wildfire resilience & fire protection
After the 2026 fire, "review" is not a plan. Every Area F community should have a documented fire-service arrangement, defensible water supply for firefighting, FireSmart resourcing, and building-code guidance that makes fire-resistant construction the easier choice, not the harder one.
- Documented fire-service coverage for every Area F community
- Water supply and access reviewed for firefighting, not just domestic use
- Practical FireSmart support — funded, scheduled, and delivered
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05
Make it easier to get a building permit
A rebuild after a wildfire, an addition, a shop, a new home — none of these should die waiting for RDOS building & planning to answer the phone. As Director I would direct staff to speed up the permitting process so residents are not carrying land, financing, and design costs while their file waits in a queue. Faster permits mean lower carrying costs for the people paying to build.
- Published turnaround targets for each permit type, reported quarterly
- One Area F point of contact for complex or post-fire files
- If you have an architect or an engineer on the project, you'll have your building permit in one week.
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06
A carriage house on every parcel
Area F is one of the only jurisdictions in the province where a carriage house is not permitted. In a housing shortage, with escalating costs of living, that's a lose-lose for landowners and tenants alike. Every parcel in Area F should be zoned for a carriage house or secondary suite, with the servicing to back it up — so homeowners are incentivised to add the housing our communities desperately need.
- Zoning amendments so every Area F parcel permits a carriage house or secondary suite
- Water, wastewater, and access reviewed and upgraded where the servicing gap is real
- Owner incentives — fast permitting, fee relief, and clear standards — to actually get suites built
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07
Faulder water system
Previous administrations and staff have ignored the findings of the expensive reports they commissioned on this water system, and neglected the maintenance it needs to support daily use and sustainable growth. I will work to renegotiate the scale of our water licence with the province. There is no reason we shouldn't be able to support small-scale agriculture and carriage houses on our parcels — we are not a third-world country in Faulder.
- Act on the recommendations already sitting in commissioned reports
- Fund the maintenance backlog the system has been carrying for years
- Renegotiate the provincial water licence to support small-scale agriculture and carriage houses
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08
Make it easier to run a business from your property
Other BC jurisdictions have vibrant entrepreneurial communities — there is no reason Area F shouldn't have more flexible home-industry and light-commercial zoning that residents can actually use to grow a business. Small businesses are the backbone of the province, and we need a regional district that recognises that — especially given the shortage of industrially zoned land and the cost of renting the little that exists.
- Modernise home-industry and light-commercial zoning across Area F
- Clear, predictable rules for shops, studios, and small trades on residential parcels
- A regional-district posture that treats small business as infrastructure, not nuisance
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09
Protect rural landowners from unmanaged encampments
Compassion is not the same as looking the other way. Rural landowners on the edges of Area F are being asked to absorb the risk of unmanaged encampments and tent cities — including wildfires that I have personally responded to. Homes, water infrastructure, and forest interface are real and irreplaceable, and the Regional District has a duty to protect them while the province and non-profits do the harder work of housing people properly.
- A written RDOS protocol for identifying, reporting, and responding to unmanaged encampments in Area F
- Coordinated fire-risk and enforcement response with RCMP, BC Wildfire, and the province
- Advocacy for real, funded housing and mental-health options — so this is not solved on landowners' backs
Updates
Campaign updates and statements.
New positions, statements, and research on the platform as they're released. Newest first.
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Statement on the Sage Mesa water referendum
Residents were asked to authorize up to $33.034 million in borrowing — roughly $1,000 to $1,200 a month per household for up to 30 years. Faulder pays about $66 a month; West Bench about $117. The referendum failed 317 to 136. If elected, one of my first orders of business will be to call for a broad inquiry into how this proposal was developed and how it reached a vote.
About
Someone who builds things.
I run John Rousseau Design, a bespoke millwork and timberframing studio in Area F. My business focuses on residential millwork, custom furniture, doors and windows, heavy timber, and integrated building solutions — day-in, day-out, on real sites with real budgets. Since 2006 I have been focused on bringing fine joinery details, in various mediums, to custom homes and wineries throughout the Okanagan Valley. Over the years, I have interfaced extensively with engineers and architects, and understand the language and process of building complex projects.
That's the lens I'll bring to the board table. I'll ask the awkward technical questions early — before we make an expensive mistake.
Faulder, West Bench, Meadow Valley, Sage Mesa — this is home. The 2026 wildfire took a lot from many of us, including my own property. What comes next has to be better than what came before.
Electoral Area F
The communities on the ballot.
Area F is Greater West Bench, Rural Summerland, Okanagan Lake West, Faulder, and Meadow Valley. Small in population, big in shared files: water, wildfire, land use, and how our tax dollars come back to us.
- West Bench
- Sage Mesa
- Husula Highlands
- Westwood Properties
- Faulder
- Meadow Valley
- Darke Lake
- Okanagan Lake West
General voting day
Saturday, October 17, 2026
Advance voting details and voting places will be posted by the RDOS Chief Election Officer. If you're on the fence about registering — do it. Every Area F vote is loud.
Get involved
Small race. Big difference.
Area F is roughly two thousand voters. That means door-knocking, lawn signs, and real conversations decide this — not big budgets. Add your name below and I'll be in touch.
Your details go straight to my inbox. Nothing shared, nothing sold, nothing added to a list.
Contact
Talk to me directly.
Phone, text, or email — any hour that suits you.
- Phone 250-462-6278
- Email [email protected]