Shirley Fowler
Background, public record, forum positions and unanswered questions for Shirley Fowler, a 2026 Armstrong councillor candidate.
Office: Councillor
Shirley Fowler has one of the longest records in the race.
At the forum she described 21 years on Armstrong council, 17 years at the Regional District of North Okanagan and three years as RDNO chair.
Her forum answer on taxes was among the clearest from any incumbent.
Fowler said it would be easy to promise no more increases, but she does not believe that is realistic.
Her argument was straightforward: delaying infrastructure can make the eventual replacement more expensive. She used the planned reservoir as an example of a project whose estimated cost increased significantly over time.
That gives voters a fairly clear fiscal position.
Fowler is not campaigning on the premise that lower taxes should override every other consideration.
The public record also lets us distinguish where she actually participated.
Fowler was present at the April 7, 2025 meeting where council endorsed the tax structure.
The relevant motions were recorded as carried without Fowler being identified as voting against them.
She was absent from the April 22 special meeting where the annual tax-rate bylaw received first, second and third readings.
It would therefore be inaccurate to attribute that April 22 vote to her.
Previous public office: Armstrong councillor; RDNO director and chair.
Record summary: Long municipal and regional experience across planning, infrastructure and shared services.
What the minutes show: Fowler participated in the earlier 2025 tax-policy discussion, where no negative vote was attributed to her, but was absent when the tax-rate bylaw received its first three readings.
From the forum: Explicitly argued that some tax increases are necessary when deferral would make infrastructure more expensive.
Another way to look at it: Experience and regional relationships can help a small city. Long service also gives voters more decisions for which to hold someone accountable.
What I’d like to know: After more than two decades on council, which unresolved Armstrong problem does Fowler most want another term to solve?