Former Sun Peaks councillor Rob O’Toole will be acclaimed as the community’s second-ever mayor in the April 5 by-election, following a challenge period ending March. 10.
Elected to council in 2022, the Vertical Cafe owner will replace the late Al Raine — Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality’s (SPMRM) first mayor, who led the community since its founding in 2010 until his death last December.
Following the nomination period which ended Feb.28, SPMRM posted on its website next month’s by-election candidates list, revealing O’Toole as the only person running for the mayor’s seat.
“I felt a sense of responsibility and duty to the community,” O’Toole told SPIN, explaining why he put his name forward as mayor. “I spent a lot of time working alongside Al the last six-plus years on council, and felt that in order to kind of continue his work, the work that council has been doing, somebody needed to step up, take that responsibility on.”
Longtime mayor Raine was diagnosed last year with a type of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and died in December — declaring on the municipality’s website that “the community makes people feel special and that is why people love Sun Peaks.”
In his farewell letter to the community, Raine added he had hoped to see the completion of the planned employee-only rental building.
In the year-and-a-half until the next full civic election in October 2026, O’Toole said his focus will be to ensure current municipal projects keep advancing.
“I don’t think there’s any new priorities, per se, from my mindset,” he said. “It’s more about us continuing the work that council had been doing under Al’s leadership.”
Making progress for the community
Many of the municipality’s plans are on the road to completion.
The community’s BC Builds housing project is expected to be finished during O’Toole’s term and construction on a pipeline from the reservoir to the water treatment plant is set to begin this summer. Also in the summer, the expansion of the local sewage facility’s first phase is expected to be completed.
Additionally, efforts will continue to exempt Sun Peaks from the province’s foreign-buyer ban legislation.
Strengthening relationships with the three local First Nations — Adams Lake Band, Neskonlith Band, and Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw — is another priority along with a reconciliation proposal, O’Toole said, describing that as a “revenue-sharing agreement that the mayor had been promoting to the provincial government to work on.”
Duty and responsibility as mayor
Having seen outgoing mayor Raine’s achievements in office, O’Toole said he understands the leadership role is a big responsibility.
As a business owner, he’s enlisted extra help from his family to ensure Vertical Cafe runs smoothly as he takes the mayoral seat.
But deciding if he’ll run again for the position in October 2026 isn’t something he said he’ll yet seriously consider until about a half-year or so into his term.
During his term as councillor, O’Toole was appointed the municipality’s alternate for the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, and took over after Raine’s diagnosis at age 82. As mayor, O’Toole will sit on the boards of the regional district, its finance committee, and the Thompson Regional Hospital District.
Since O’Toole stepped down as councillor to run for mayor, fellow councillor Len Hrycan took over his colleague’s regional district duties for the last few months, and will sit as the mayor’s alternate on these boards following the by-election.
O’Toole said that since this term began, in the last couple of years, he’s become more involved in a growing number of municipal processes.
He accompanied previous mayor Raine to the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference, and met with senior leaders within various provincial ministries. Through those efforts, he witnessed how the province works with municipalities.
He said he’s inspired by the “passion” of his predecessor, Raine.
“There’s a lot to know,” he said. “And you’re following it in the path of someone who’s respected and regarded at an extremely high level across municipal politics, provincial politics, federal politics.
“I think the key is to not to think that you’re going to try and follow in his footsteps, but stand on his shoulders more — and continue his passion for community.”
Since stepping down from council, O’Toole’s been keeping up to speed on council business, following its agendas closely and attending meetings.
“If I am fortunate enough, I just want to get back there and get back to work,” he said. “There’s a lot of moving parts, and lots of things happening.”
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