Open this photo in gallery:
Chilliwack-Cultus Lake MLA Á’a:liya Warbus cited a ‘critical breakdown in communications’ in her decision to leave the party.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
The BC Conservative caucus lost another MLA on Monday, the seventh to leave the ranks of the province’s Official Opposition party since mid-August.
The exodus presents a growing challenge to party leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay as the former Conservative MP runs in a by-election to win a seat in the provincial legislature.
Monday’s departure of Á’a:liya Warbus, the only Indigenous MLA on the party benches, is the latest domino to fall for the BC Conservatives. A succession of defections, senior staff departures and internal controversies has rocked the party since Ms. Findlay was elected leader in late May, throwing both her leadership and the Conservatives’ future into question.
The upheaval is also a boon to Premier David Eby’s NDP, which won 47 seats to the Conservatives’ 44 in the 2024 election and could now benefit from a fractured opposition and divided centre-right.
Ms. Warbus, who represented the Chilliwack-Cultus Lake riding and served as the party’s house leader, joins Peter Milobar, Ian Paton, Rosalyn Bird, Teresa Wat, Brennan Day and Bruce Banman. All have left the caucus since Aug. 14 and now sit as independent MLAs.
Mr. Milobar and Mr. Paton last week announced their intention to form a new political party with Mr. Milobar as interim leader. They will be up against former BC Liberal cabinet minister Mike Bernier, who was named leader of the CentreBC party in July, in vying for the votes of those seeking a more centrist political home than Ms. Findlay’s Conservative Party.
The BC Conservatives did not respond to an interview request on Monday.
B.C. premier calls by-election in riding where Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay is set to run
In announcing her decision, Ms. Warbus cited the party’s departure from core issues and a “critical breakdown in communication” under Ms. Findlay’s leadership, both with the public and internally, across MLAs and staff.
“Caucus members have learned of hirings, firings, critic appointments and leadership positions through any and all channels including social media before being informed by leadership,” Ms. Warbus said in a statement.
She also highlighted the inability of the caucus to discuss serious allegations that surfaced last week, which prompted the firing of operations director Apollo Chung after audio recordings circulated purportedly capturing a staffer discussing a fundraiser “so we can steal everything.”
Another recording allegedly captured Ms. Findlay telling caucus members that if an MLA gave up their seat to trigger a by-election, she “could give them a role as a senior adviser in the same portfolio.” Reann Gasper resigned as Abbotsford-Mission MLA on Aug. 22, giving Ms. Findlay a chance to run; she has since become the leader’s deputy chief of staff. It is a violation of the Criminal Code to offer a legislator an inducement to resign from office.
Neither Ms. Findlay nor the party have confirmed the authenticity of the recordings. Ms. Findlay announced Mr. Chung’s firing on Aug. 26 in a one-sentence statement, with no reason given. In a post to social media the following day, she referenced a “surreptitious recording” and called allegations that comments about the party’s future plans may constitute a criminal offence “a political smear job and nothing more.”
Open this photo in gallery:
Under Ms. Findlay’s leadership, seven MLAs have left caucus since Aug. 14 to sit as Independents.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
A caucus meeting that was planned for Monday was cancelled without explanation on Sunday. Ms. Warbus said it reflected “the lack of value being placed on caucus members and their opinions.”
In an interview, Ms. Warbus said “a number of staff hirings and firings” happened without so much as a courtesy e-mail to MLAs, causing confusion and leaving them not properly informed to speak on behalf of the party and do their jobs effectively. She also underscored the seriousness of the allegations raised by the leaked audio recordings.
“There were some very critical, pivotal points in the past two weeks that deserve time, answers, accountability and transparency,” she said.
Ms. Warbus said unity is needed among like-minded people, and that divisions, personal attacks and culture wars are unhelpful.
“I’m open, and my door’s open, my phone’s open, to anybody that wants to have those conversations,” she said. “I think we have to come together before we can ask British Columbians to govern at all.”
The shocking implosion of B.C.’s Conservative Party
Ms. Warbus is not alone in citing a breakdown of communications as a factor in leaving the party. Randy Hawes resigned as the B.C. Conservatives’ riding association president for Abbotsford-Mission on Aug. 24 after learning through media reports that Ms. Gasper had stepped down.
In an interview, the former BC Liberal MLA and former mayor of Mission said he was shocked by the outcome of May’s leadership contest, when Ms. Findlay was elected on the fourth ballot with 51 per cent of the vote, to Caroline Elliott’s 49 per cent.
“She’s what I would call hardcore right-wing, and I don’t think that’s what the BC Conservative Party was supposed to be,” Mr. Hawes said.
He cited as examples Ms. Findlay’s attack on Mr. Milobar during the leadership contest, suggesting he is in a conflict of interest because his wife is Indigenous, and a July report that Ms. Findlay and her senior staff directed MLAs to no longer use the term “First Nations” in describing people but instead use terms such as “Indian.”
Mr. Hawes also said that Ms. Findlay did not repudiate comments made by her husband, Brent Chapman, the party’s South Surrey MLA, who in old social-media posts described Palestinian children as “inbred walking, talking, breathing time bombs” and suggested mass shootings such as Sandy Hook were fake.
“My conscience will not allow me to sit in a party that has that woman at the head,” Mr. Hawes said.
He, too, is hopeful that Mr. Milobar’s and Mr. Bernier’s groups will work together.
“What’s going on now is insane,” he said. “As far as people who are in the centre, you can’t split that vote. You need a uniting formula.”