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MLA Peter Milobar quit the Conservative caucus last month and now sits as an independent.CHAD HIPOLITO/The Canadian Press
Two efforts to build a more centrist alternative to the B.C. Conservatives are emerging from the party’s turmoil, but their leaders are unable to agree on which one should unite voters disillusioned with both the governing NDP and the embattled opposition.
CentreBC Leader Mike Bernier and Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar, who quit the Conservative caucus last month and announced his intention to start a new party, are friends who share many of the same values and much of the same policy agenda. CentreBC was founded in March, 2025, as an option for voters dissatisfied with the Conservatives.
But after several discussions, the two remain at an impasse on forging a united centre-right alternative, raising the prospect of a fractured vote in the future. The next provincial election is scheduled for October, 2028, but could be called much sooner.
“We’re in that weird spot that we’ve got to figure out how to work together, otherwise we’re splitting the vote,” Mr. Bernier said.
Mr. Bernier, a former BC Liberal cabinet minister and MLA for Peace River South, became leader of CentreBC in July, feeling a Conservative party under Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay didn’t represent most British Columbians. CentreBC, founded by former BC United MLA Karin Kirkpatrick in 2025, presents itself as a “socially progressive, fiscally responsible choice.”
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Mr. Milobar left the Conservative caucus on Aug. 14, saying his values don’t align with Ms. Findlay’s. Delta South MLA Ian Paton followed suit 10 days later, and the two announced their intention to form a new party with Mr. Milobar as interim leader.
Since Mr. Milobar’s departure, a total of nine sitting MLAs have quit the Conservative caucus, all citing issues with leadership, communication and differences over the party’s direction. The Conservative exodus has fuelled a growing push for a more centrist political option, with defectors and other politicos largely agreeing on the need but not the vehicle.
Ms. Findlay, meanwhile, is doubling down on her leadership, attributing her party’s challenges and disagreements to its rapid growth, while vowing to bring positive change.
The B.C. Conservatives went from having less than 2 per cent of the vote in 2020 to coming within three seats of forming government four years later. Ms. Findlay became the party’s leader in late May.
“I was elected to lead this party, and I intend to lead it with determination, with humility and with the experience to know that strong leaders listen, learn and make changes when changes are needed,” she said in a statement to media on Thursday.
Two more MLAs quit B.C. Conservative caucus as Findlay’s chief of staff resigns
Ms. Findlay has not responded to interview requests from The Globe and Mail.
Mr. Bernier said CentreBC has spent 18 months building the infrastructure of an established party, including its constitution, databases and website. At least 20 candidates have said they want to run for the party, he said.
Lakhwinder Jhaj will be CentreBC’s first candidate in the Sept. 26 Abbotsford-Mission by-election, where Ms. Findlay is vying for a seat. The Conservative leader will face off against Ms. Jhaj, a community advocate and businessperson, and NDP candidate Pam Alexis, a former cabinet minister who represented the riding from 2020 to 2024.
Ms. Jhaj previously ran for the BC Liberals and the NDP, as well as the Liberal Party of Canada.
Mr. Bernier said he made the case to Mr. Milobar that he could build on the organization CentreBC had already put in place.
“I’ve had sit-down meetings with Peter and said, ‘Why would you start up something new and compete against something we’ve already started doing when we should all just be working together on a path to keep that centre, centre-right all in one tent?’ ” he said.
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Mr. Bernier added that he has “no ego” in the venture and no attachment to being the one at the helm.
“If we’re able to work together and Peter or somebody else wanted to be the leader of the party, by all means, let’s do that,” he said.
For Mr. Milobar, the question came down to which vehicle could attract enough sitting MLAs to give a new party a foothold in the legislature.
“There just wasn’t traction within the MLAs I was talking to, and others that were contemplating leaving, around CentreBC,” he said. “Some have felt that some of their policy, or where they were headed, is a little left of centre for their liking.”
Having sitting MLAs was important to establish the new party as a viable political force from day one, Mr. Milobar said.
“That revolves around having as many sitting MLAs as possible within a new upstart party so that you can generate the news, you can be recognized inside the legislature and you can get that extra credibility and attention that comes with being an official party with seats inside of the legislature,” he said.
Mr Milobar said he is working with lawyers on the party’s constitution and expects the new organization to be up and running when the legislature’s fall session begins Oct. 5.
Randy Hawes, the former Conservative riding association president for Abbotsford-Mission, is among those trying to get the parties to work together, arguing that anything else is “just handing the NDP the government again.”
Mr. Hawes resigned from his position on Aug. 24 after learning through media reports that MLA Reann Gasper had given up her seat to give Ms. Findlay a chance to run.
“I don’t see this going anywhere unless they unite,” he said. “That’s an absolute must.”