Jordan Peterson no concern of Kelowna’s mayor

Petitions for and against the upcoming Dr. Jordan Peterson performance at Prospera Place are not going to trigger action at Kelowna City Hall.

The controversial speaker is scheduled to be at the local arena on May 26. One petition is calling on Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas and council to cancel the performance and promises two protests if they don’t.

It has collected about 1,350 signatures to date.

On the other side, the pro-Peterson petition calls on the mayor and council to support the tour. It has about 100 more signatures.

So, what is council going to do about all this?

READ MORE: Battle lines drawn over Jordan Peterson event in Kelowna

iNFOnews.ca asked for an interview with Dyas to talk about the subject but he opted for a simple email.

“Prospera Place is operated by GSL Group of Vancouver,” Dyas said in an email to iNFOnews.ca. “The City of Kelowna does not regulate what performers the private company chooses to bring into the arena.”

A protest against Peterson is scheduled at City Hall for 2 p.m. on May 19 and at Prospera Place at 5:30 p.m. May 26. Peterson is scheduled to take the stage at 7:30 p.m. that night.


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Rob Munro


Rob Munro has a long history in journalism after starting an underground newspaper in Whitehorse called the Yukon Howl in 1980. He spent five years at the 100 Mile Free Press, starting in the darkroom, moving on to sports and news reporting before becoming the advertising manager. He came to Kelowna in 1989 as a reporter for the Kelowna Daily Courier, and spent the 1990s mostly covering city hall. For most of the past 20 years he worked full time for the union representing newspaper workers throughout B.C. He’s returned to his true love of being a reporter with a special focus on civic politics