Election day: Saturday, October 17

Dr. Rafiullah Sahibzada

Name: General voting day — Williams Lake 2026 B.C. general local election
Start: 2026-10-17T08:00:00-07:00
End: 2026-10-17T20:00:00-07:00
Location: Marie Sharpe Elementary School

For Williams Lake City Council

Stop the revolving door downtown.

Real consequences for the handful of repeat offenders who keep cycling through. Mental health and addiction care here in Williams Lake, so the cycle can actually end. And straight answers on what the new water plant will cost you.

In Williams Lake since 2019
B.C. environmental protection officer
Restorative justice co-facilitator
PhD, University of Idaho

Join the campaign When and where to vote

Dr. Rafiullah Sahibzada, candidate for Williams Lake City Council

When and where to vote

Advance voting Wednesday, October 7 and Wednesday, October 14. Election day Saturday, October 17.

Advance voting

Wednesday, October 7 and Wednesday, October 14

8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

City Hall, 450 Mart Street

Election day

Saturday, October 17

8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Marie Sharpe Elementary School gym, 260 Cameron Street

On your ballot

Vote for up to six councillors. Look for SAHIBZADA, Rafiullah. The ballot shows his name without the “Dr.” title.

Bring two pieces of ID, one with your signature. You can register when you vote.

Mail ballots, curbside voting and the full ID list

What I'll do on council

Four priorities. For each one I'm clear about what council can do on its own, and what it has to push the province or Ottawa to do.

Stop the revolving door downtown

Safety, drugs and homelessness are one problem, and we keep treating them as three. Mental health runs through much of it: what we see downtown is often the after-effect of mental illness and addiction going untreated. I've seen healthy, working people lose a job for reasons beyond their control, turn to drugs and lose everything. Someone who commits a crime shouldn't be back on the street within hours — and someone ready to get well shouldn't have to leave Williams Lake to do it. That's why I'll work toward a mental health services facility right here, so we treat the cause and not only the after-effects.

At the council table

Hold the RCMP and the province to the regular reporting council asked for in June on the prolific-offender initiative, and publish the results so residents can see whether it's working.
Work with downtown businesses on the fixes the City controls: bylaw enforcement, lighting and fast cleanup.
Bring Interior Health, local First Nations, community agencies and people with lived experience to one table to plan a mental health services facility, and have the City's zoning and permits ready for it.

Pushing Victoria and Ottawa

Provincial funding, a timeline and staff for a mental health services facility in Williams Lake: treatment and recovery, voluntary and involuntary care, and job support afterward so recovery holds.
Stronger action against the illicit drug trade, and bail rules that stop repeat offenders walking out within hours.
Staff for the new mental health and substance use unit at Cariboo Memorial Hospital, so its eight beds open and stay open.

The water plant, and what it costs you

Clean water isn't optional: the City has to bring manganese down to meet drinking-water standards, and Interior Health wants a compliance plan by December 2029. But the plant's price has climbed from $24.3 million to more than $40 million, and the grants are capped at $21.6 million. Before council borrows, you deserve the real number for your household.

At the council table

No borrowing decision until there's a firm construction price, not an estimate.
Show every household its share, in dollars a year, at a public meeting before any vote to borrow.

Pushing Victoria and Ottawa

More provincial and federal money. A city of about 11,000 people shouldn't carry a $17 million overrun on its own.

Keep post-secondary in Williams Lake

TRU's board is scheduled to decide on December 4 whether to close the Williams Lake campus — about a month after the new council takes office. The building is badly under-used and needs millions in repairs, so a letter of support won't save it. A campus that trains people for the jobs this region is short on might.

At the council table

Show up for TRU's leadership forum this fall, and get residents out to the community consultation from November to January.
Bring School District 27, local First Nations and employers together on a joint proposal to use more of the building and share its costs.

Pushing Victoria and Ottawa

Programs tied to local jobs: health-care training for the expanded Cariboo Memorial Hospital, and trades for mining, forestry and construction.

Seniors on fixed incomes

Many seniors here are getting by on retirement and pension income that doesn't stretch far enough. Council can't raise a pension, but it does control a lot of what seniors pay for and rely on.

At the council table

Phase in any utility increases from the water plant, with relief for low-income seniors.
Use City mailouts to make sure seniors know about help that already exists, like B.C.'s property tax deferment program and SAFER rent assistance.

Pushing Victoria and Ottawa

Better handyDART service from BC Transit for medical appointments and errands.

The full platform, with the facts and sources behind it

Why I'm running

I moved to Williams Lake in 2019 from Prince George with my wife and our two children. I've also lived in Saskatoon, Richmond, Surrey and Fort St. John, and of all of them, this is the place we chose. The people are friendlier and the environment is better than anywhere else I've lived.

By day I'm an environmental protection officer with the B.C. Ministry of Environment and Parks. I hold a PhD from the University of Idaho in the United States (1994). Outside work, I co-facilitate restorative justice sessions, tutor newcomers learning English, and chair the Central Cariboo Islamic Centre.

Family and friends, and some members of the current city council, encouraged me to run. I said yes because I want to give back to this community by serving it.

In the community

Co-facilitator
Williams Lake Community Council for Restorative Justice
I sit in the room where people who've caused harm face the people they hurt, and agree on how to make it right.
Volunteer English tutor
Cariboo Chilcotin Partners for Literacy
Helping newcomers to Williams Lake learn English.
Chair
Central Cariboo Islamic Centre
A chapter of the B.C. Muslim Association.

Join the campaign

Fifteen people are running for six seats. In a race like that, a lawn sign on your street or a word to a neighbour does more than any ad. Sign up and tell us how you'd like to help.