Two more B.C. Conservative legislators have left the party to sit as Independents, and leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s chief of staff has resigned.
Donegal Wilson, MLA for Boundary-Similkameen, announced her departure in a statement Wednesday morning, saying she had lost confidence in Findlay’s leadership.
“When Ms. Findlay became Leader, I promised myself I would keep an open mind and give her three months to show us how she intended to lead,” reads Wilson’s statement announcing her departure.
“Three months later, I have my answer. I never imagined things could go this wrong, this quickly.”
By early afternoon, Scott McInnis, the MLA for Columbia River–Revelstoke, had joined Wilson.
“My goal has always been to serve the people of Columbia River-Revelstoke and help improve British Columbia,” McInnis said, in his own statement.
“However, I no longer believe that goal can be attained under current leadership.”
In a brief statement, Findlay said she had accepted the resignation of her chief of staff Chris Delaney. She did not elaborate on Delaney’s reasons for resigning.
Former MLA Reann Gasper—who stepped down to allow Findlay to run in a byelection in Abbotsford–Mission and was later appointed Findlay’s deputy chief of staff—will be promoted to Delaney’s former role.
Wilson and McInnis are the eighth and ninth B.C. Conservative MLAs to leave the party’s caucus since Findlay became leader in May. All of the departures have occurred in the last three weeks.
So far, all of the other defectors have elected to sit as Independent members, though Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar and Delta South MLA Ian Paton have said they plan to form a new party.
‘Mounting questions’
Both Wilson and McInnis referenced the departures of experienced staff, new hires with ties to Alberta separatism, and alleged RCMP investigations among their reasons for leaving the party.
Paton told The Canadian Press Tuesday that he had been asked to speak to the RCMP. He said he expected to be asked about allegedly being offered a job in exchange for resigning his seat to allow Findlay to run in a byelection.
Paton alleges that Delaney asked him to step down in July, and told him that he would be given a job as an adviser for two years with the same salary as an MLA.
It is illegal under the Criminal Code to negotiate a reward or benefit related to resignation from political office.
Findlay has denied offering jobs in exchange for resignations, and said that suggestions that a recording released online shows she illegally did so are “preposterous.”
Wilson’s statement Wednesday alluded to “mounting questions about alleged inducements” to secure Findlay a seat in the legislature, while McInnis referenced only “matters involving the RCMP.”
“Since (Findlay) becoming leader, decisions about staffing, senior appointments, caucus relations and the direction of the organization have caused me growing concern,” McInnis said in his statement.
“Competent and experienced staff have been fired, serious ethical questions have accumulated around members of the leader’s senior team, and reported connections to Alberta separatism—an issue which is extremely contentious in Columbia River–Revelstoke, which shares a 200-kilometre border with Alberta—and matters involving the RCMP have only added to those concerns.”
‘I wanted this to work’
Wilson’s statement framed Monday’s cancelled caucus meeting as a key moment in her decision-making process.
She said she requested the in-person meeting, which was cancelled less than two days before it was scheduled to occur, after members had already made arrangements to attend.
“Caucus members met anyway, but her absence spoke volumes,” the statement reads, referring to Findlay.
“I stayed because I wanted this to work. But these are not disagreements about conservative principles. They are the result of decisions made under Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s leadership. After three months, the dam has burst. I no longer believe she can bring Conservatives back together, rebuild trust or restore the credibility needed to defeat the NDP.”
Wilson said Premier David Eby’s decision to schedule a byelection in Abbotsford–Mission for the end of this month made her decision to leave caucus “unavoidable.”
“Remaining in caucus would mean raising money, knocking on doors and asking British Columbians to put their confidence in Kerry-Lynne Findlay,” Wilson said. “I cannot do that. If I cannot honestly campaign for our leader, I cannot honestly remain in her caucus.”
She said she has “tremendous respect” for her colleagues who remain in the party.
“They will make their own decisions,” she said. “This is mine.”
‘A recipe for failure’
Both Wilson and McInnis stressed that their conservative beliefs haven’t changed, and both pledged to continue to adhere to conservative principles while representing their constituencies as Independents.
However, McInnis also devoted some of his statement to a broader critique of the ideology of the B.C. Conservatives under Findlay’s leadership.
“The party has increasingly become an exclusive private club more concerned with ideological bona fides than building the broad coalition required to serve British Columbians and form government,” his statement reads.
“Since 1956, no party has defeated the NDP unless they welcomed voters from the centre out to the right of the political spectrum. This is a historical fact, one that current BCC leadership refuses to accept. This is a recipe for failure.”
With files from The Canadian Press
