The Conservatives now have only 32 MLAs; 10 former members of their caucus now sit as Independents.CHAD HIPOLITO/The Canadian Press
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That is how quickly the Conservative Party of B.C. is shedding MLAs who are expressing anger and disillusionment over the leadership of Kerry-Lynne Findlay on their way out. It is part of an unprecedented exodus from the party, which has created political chaos of a sort rarely witnessed in the country.
The sad-sack NDP government of David Eby can scarcely believe its good fortune.
Some history: Eighteen months before the 2024 B.C. election, the Conservatives were polling in the low single-digits under the then-leadership of John Rustad. But so disenchanted was much of the public with Mr. Eby’s leadership, many decided that a raw and inexperienced Conservative Party, with many oddball candidates, would be better than the NDP, which seemed to be good at one thing: spending money.
After the election, the NDP held 47 seats, the Conservatives 44 and the Green Party two.
Oh, the future looked so bright for the Tories.
There was only one problem: their achievement was an illusion. They weren’t a unified party. They were an amalgam of old BC Liberal/BC United types, some moderate conservatives and then some MAGA-North types more ideologically aligned with the MAGA wing of Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party.
As leader, Mr. Rustad was a disaster, unable to unify the factions he oversaw. Before long, the defections began. Mr. Rustad was effectively pushed out by the party late last year. A leadership contest was held and Ms. Findlay, a former federal Conservative MP, was narrowly chosen in May to succeed Mr. Rustad. She hasn’t fared much better.
Kerry-Lynne Findlay dances onto the stage during leadership election night in Vancouver, in May.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
In the last couple of weeks, several more MLAs have left, disgruntled with the far-right direction they believe she is taking the party. Some have protested Ms. Findlay’s staffing choices, including bringing in the previous executive director of the separatist Republican Party of Alberta, Apollo Chung, to be caucus operations director.
Ms. Findlay then fired him Wednesday for reasons she hasn’t explained.
As I write this, the Conservatives now have only 32 MLAs; 10 former members of their caucus now sit as Independents. Several left under Mr. Rustad’s leadership (or were forced out) but more are leaving now. Five, in fact, have left in the last two weeks. One who left under Mr. Rustad to sit as an independent joined the NDP after Ms. Findlay’s victory.
Teresa Wat, a four-term MLA from Richmond, who once was part of the BC Liberals and BC United before joining the Conservatives, announced on Wednesday she was also leaving Ms. Findlay’s caucus.
It was not just because of ideological differences. No, that would be too simple for this soap opera. She said in a release that Ms. Findlay made “serious and unfounded” accusations about her for which she had not apologized. It’s been reported that the Conservative Leader had over the summer asserted in a private group chat that Ms. Wat was associated with the Chinese Communist Party.
Ms. Findlay said Wednesday she did make amends.
Ian Paton, who like Ms. Wat was formerly with the BC Liberals and BC United before moving to the Conservatives, also resigned recently over the direction Ms. Findlay is taking the party. He said that he was approached by a representative of the leader offering him a job that would pay him the equivalent of his MLA’s salary if he resigned to allow Ms. Findlay to run in a by-election. This, if true, would be a violation of the Criminal Code, which prohibits this type of bartering in exchange for rewards, salary or financial benefit.
Ms. Findlay has denied making this offer.
Eventually, MLA Reann Gasper of Abbotsford-Mission resigned her seat to allow Ms. Findlay to run. Two days later Ms. Gasper was announced as the new caucus deputy chief of staff. Her salary has not been revealed. No one will be surprised if it’s close to what she would have been making as an MLA.
Mr. Paton and Peter Milobar, who previously resigned from caucus after unsuccessfully seeking the Conservative leadership, announced they would be starting a new (moderate) conservative party. It would seem the yet-to-be-named group could have a healthy caucus almost immediately.
With more defections from the Conservative caucus surely to come, some have speculated that this would be the perfect time for the NDP to call a snap election. Why would they? They now have a healthy majority. The centre-right in B.C. is fractured beyond recognition. All the NDP has to do is sit back and watch the unfolding destruction of conservative politics in the province.
It’s just unfortunate that under the NDP, the province’s finances are being destroyed right along with it.