“I barely want to do this.”
It was a message plastered on election signs across Kelowna that made headlines internationally.
Now, despite his (satirical) misgivings, 33-year-old Brady Rogers is going to have to “do this” — “this” being serve on Kelowna city council.
“It’s been strange to have people recognize me — it’s very new to me, but overwhelmingly positive,” Rogers told CBC’s Radio West on Monday.
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Rogers earned 12,635 votes in Saturday’s municipal election, making him the fourth-most popular candidate.
That followed a campaign built largely on self-deprecating humour, with other campaign slogans including, “How hard could it be,” “Just trying to pay my rent,” and “Let’s see what happens.”
Rogers, a small business owner and an engineer by trade, said until recently he would have considered the idea of running for council “laughable.”
But after giving it thought when someone pitched him the idea, he concluded he “unfortunately” had many of the right skills.
From there, he said, if he was going to run it would have to come from a place of authenticity and honesty — hence the campaign slogan, “Fine, I’ll do it.”
A screenshot from Brady Rogers’ campaign website. The candidate harnessed self-deprecating humour as a part of his bid to break through in a crowded municipal election race. (Brady Rogers)
While Rogers’ campaign harnessed comedy, his platform was built on serious policy ideas targeting housing, transit, taxation and homelessness.
“I think for the most part people saw the tongue-in-cheek humour, and once they dug into my platform they recognized I do actually have some fairly sophisticated ideas,” he said.
“I think that those [younger] voices who are actually experiencing the economy as it is now are important voices to have on council,” he added.
David Black, an associate professor at the School of Communication and Culture at Royal Roads University, said Rogers hit on a winning mix of satire and serious policy.
He said the fun sign and social media campaign was well integrated with an in-depth website that laid out real ideas.
“It’s serious fun. It’s sincere satire,” he said.
“It’s not the Rhinoceros Party … it’s not just satire for its own sake or just to mock government. It is satire with policy attached.”
In a crowded field of 37 council candidates, Black said Rogers was able to stand out by stepping away from the traditional approach to politics built on gravity and conflict.
The lighter approach, he said, resulted in a message and style aligned with today’s digital culture, while tapping into public distrust of career politicians “that seem to be born from the lab.”
Black added that Rogers leaned into his personality to sell his message.
“We like people to come to power — even a council seat in Kelowna, not king of the world — reluctantly,” the professor said.
B.C. council candidates turn to humour, eye-catching stunts in bid to break through
Rogers, for his part, says he feels a “sense of duty” to bring a fresh perspective to council where he hopes to do real work to improve the city of around 167,000.
That will start next week with a crash course in the actual day-to-day work of a city councillor.
“They’ll presumably tell me how to be a councillor,” he said. “But until then, it’s just me taking it day by day.”
