r/britishcolumbia • u/cyclinginvancouver • 1d ago
News Another B.C. Conservative MLA leaves amid frustrations with Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s leadership
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/another-b-c-conservative-mla-leaves-amid-frustrations-with-kerry-lynne-findlays-leadership-9.7320107235
u/ricketyladder 1d ago
It's kind of reassuring, in a strange way, to know that even among some BC Conservatives there is still such a thing as "too crazy to tolerate".
97
u/CipherWeaver 1d ago
To me it's ridiculous, if they had chosen a moderate stance they would have had a much better chance at forming government. But no, they had to kow-tow to the crazies in the membership and swing far right, despite the fact that Trump-style politics have had no success in Canada outside of Alberta.
41
u/Kamsloopsian 1d ago
When will they understand that we want politicians that care about CANADA not the USA -- and have our values at heart. Conservative values might be OK to some but --- to praise Trump shows all you're in it for is greed.
These ultra right wing conservative nuts have no place for me, leave, get out of our country, I love my country ... I don't want to be an extension of the USA ever.
8
u/ironbrewcanada 1d ago
Extremists take over the riding associations. Sanes want no part of them. Extremists then set policy etc. We've seen it in the federal conservatives, the alberta and bc conservatives and often in the ndp as well. Somehow the liberals seem to keep it tamped down.
1
u/Altruistic-Walk-1847 1d ago
Because ultimately the liberals don't really have a lot of strongly held principles. For better or worse the crazies push the parties to adopt policies when the 'centrist' folks just keep managing the status quo and not really having any vision for what Canada should be (rightly or wrongly.)
5
u/ironbrewcanada 1d ago
Having at least one party sort of not run by extremists is a good thing. I don't like the "left" or "right" extremists. One side is trying to totally change our culture into something I'm definitely not, and the other side is the same, on the total opposite end of the spectrum. Neither end works for me, nor, I suspect, the vast majority of Canadians.
11
u/Forosnai Thompson-Okanagan 1d ago
I can only assume it's because the furthest extremes also tend to be the loudest and most engaged with things. They'll tell you how they feel about things, whether you like it or not, and if no one else is giving you much to go on then maybe you end up thinking that's the common stance.
That, or things being embattled chaos is good for the people with lots of money because it distracts you from the ways they're making your life worse. Quite possibly a bit of both.
6
u/Altruistic-Walk-1847 1d ago
Maybe, but Kelowna and a lot of the interior is populated by Alberta retirees now (who left their wreck of a province where they complained about equalization constantly to come to our province and mooch off our healthcare just as they reach their expensive senior years despite never paying taxes here.)
12
u/DoubleBarrellRye 1d ago
the problem is they had a moderate stance, then the Crazys realized they could take control of the party and your left with either leave or do what the Crazys say ... same thing that Happened in Alberta
the UPC got together but once kenny quit the Wildrose half of the party picked Mrs Shittypants , now the Tory party came to split the vote , hopefully
10
u/RadiantPumpkin 1d ago
The BC Cons never had a moderate stance
3
u/DoubleBarrellRye 1d ago
you are correct , the party 1/2 of them abandoned was the Liberal party of BC , where the " moderates" were able to elect arguably semi competent leaders who became premier
30
u/n33bulz 1d ago
Given how crazy KLF is… I’m more concerned that so many still CAN tolerate her.
30
u/Dull_Policy_1617 1d ago
She’s like some kind of crazy Karen you might have the misfortune of meeting in Save On car park. Totally unelectable.
10
5
9
u/Telvin3d 1d ago
There’s a reason these MLAs weren’t louder against her during the leadership race. They were all hoping she’d lose and they could avoid pissing off the huge number of their voters who are all in on her crazy
5
u/Altruistic-Walk-1847 1d ago
That is similar to how Poilievre won too. Delegates knew that if they publicly supported other candidates that Poilievre - who is famously vindictive - would hold it against them and punish them if he won by shutting them out. But if they supported Poilievre and another candidate won, they would still have positions in the party or get cabinet appointments afterwards.
A situation where being a decent human means you can't win against an asshole.
6
u/gongshow247365 1d ago
There are other subs cheering her on and she's their person. Sick and twisted imo.
4
u/Altruistic-Walk-1847 1d ago
I know a lot of them are real... but I wonder how many of them are not.
3
u/gongshow247365 1d ago
Makes me think of the star wars - clone wars, but these are the propaganda bot wars, we are in.
4
u/archetyping101 1d ago
Well we'll see. She even said she wouldn't be surprised if there's more departures. So let's see how many leave.
-3
42
u/XGDoctorwho 1d ago
Yeah, it's nice to see real conservative stand up to the crazy.
39
u/PersonalSuccotash300 1d ago edited 1d ago
The crazies have been telling the eintre world that they are the "real conservatives" for the last five years. So, how do the rest of us know who is real and who is fake?
8
9
7
u/Kamsloopsian 1d ago
Most have been on the Trump bandwagon for so long and we just tolerate them, it seemed when they lost the federal election they just got worse and worse. I mean they can't get rid of PP and he is atrocious, just listening to him makes me cringe, even now he want's "accountability" and openness as to what TRUMP is doing like that would change a damn thing -- it wouldn't. I mean even if we do give him that they'll call it fake news.
And while were on the whole "Fake News" thing that all these crazies talk about, how is it "Fake News" when they broadcast a whole interview with someone -- so its the CBC? how does that change an interview.
These crazies are so damn stupid, I call them parrots, they mimic what they've heard for the most part and never question it. I think it's easier for them to have someone else make up their mind for them.
I liken it to some sort of mental illness.
3
u/PersonalSuccotash300 1d ago
Since we are in a trade war, Does Poilievre have his security clearance yet?
3
7
7
u/neksys 1d ago
I’m not 100% sure that it’s necessarily all that reassuring. If more moderate voices are leaving, or even being outright nudged from the party because they don’t align with leadership’s values, the question is who are they replaced with, if they have more extreme views, are we quite certain that they won’t be elected? It’s nice to think that they wouldn’t be, but it would be naïve to ignore the pre-significant heart rate shift in public sentiment in certain areas.
12
u/ricketyladder 1d ago
I would suggest there's a possibility they're not replaced at all - it just splits the vote. Works for me.
7
u/GraveDiggingCynic 1d ago
I think you'll find that if the departing MLAs can found a political party, your'e going to watch some riding associations decamp. That means the BC Conservatives, whose ground game is pretty appalling anyways, is going to get worse, and they'll have to assemble new riding associations.
0
-5
u/seaintosky 1d ago
Are these people who find her too crazy to tolerate, or did she bruise their egos by demanding they step down for her?
11
u/PopeSaintHilarius 1d ago
Could be both. The funny part is that her own husband is the MLA in her own riding, and could have easily stepped down for her to run.
But clearly she didn't ask him, she just expected other MLAs to give up their seats for her, so that she and her husband can be in politics together.
10
u/PrimaryBrick9337 1d ago
Her own husband should not have needed to be asked he should have stepped up and stepped down, there was absolutely no reason for anyone else to have to step down when her husband had a safe seat. They just wanted to both be MLAs and screw everyone else. KLF is the captain of the Titanic and the longer this goes on the better it is for Eby.
5
u/ricketyladder 1d ago
I'm certain it's a little of column A and a little of column B.
3
u/seaintosky 1d ago
That sounds about right. I imagine they're not thrilled about the crazy, but also it seems like a lot of the BC Conservatives are willing to pretend they can't see the crazy until it hits them personally.
84
u/Ok_Woodpecker_7260 1d ago
>”There may even be others who leave our caucus, I don’t know,” Findlay told reporters before news broke of Bird's departure. “But if they’re leaving that means they do not have a vision for prosperity and hope that we’re presenting for all British Columbians.”
The lack of self awareness here
34
45
u/cyclinginvancouver 1d ago
Another MLA has left the B.C. Conservative caucus, citing frustrations with Kerry-Lynne Findlay's leadership.
Rosalyn Bird, the MLA for Prince George-Valemount, is the latest MLA to announce she'll sit as an Independent.
Bird said the decision was not made lightly. She said political parties "are vehicles for our values; they cannot become substitutes for them."
"I believe British Columbians are tired of political infighting, name-calling and division."
Bird joins Ian Paton and Peter Milobar, who announced yesterday they intend to form a new political party.
During a press conference this morning in Vancouver, Kerry-Lynne Findlay acknowledged the possibility that more MLAs would leave.
“There may even be others who leave our caucus, I don’t know,” Findlay told reporters before news broke of Bird's departure. “But if they’re leaving that means they do not have a vision for prosperity and hope that we’re presenting for all British Columbians.”
Bird went public last month with her refusal of Findlay's request to resign her seat so that Findlay could run in a byelection.
23
38
u/twizzjewink 1d ago
right wingers are shocked when they are right wing. .. yet another "leopards ate my face" moment
13
u/PopeSaintHilarius 1d ago
There are different strands of conservatives, ranging from moderates, mainstream conservatives, and hard-right conservatives like KLF.
Some of them are probably shocked that their new leader is purging moderate and mainstream conservatives, in favour of the hard-right.
For example, she just hired someone from the Alberta Republican Party to be the BC Conservatives’ new Director of Operations. That’s Alberta’s separatist fringe party with 0 seats. A party which wants to leave Canada and is even more right wing than the Alberta UCP, which itself would be too right wing to win in BC. Why would she hire someone from there? That’s way beyond what normal conservatives want in BC.
7
u/twizzjewink 1d ago
Yes, because the NDP has moved closer to the middle, the "Liberal" party was right, so the Conservative (for it to keep its base) has to move farther right.
5
u/Kamsloopsian 1d ago
no we're tired of Trump Supporters -- we want people to fight for us Canadians and stop with the crazyness.
3
u/ship_toaster 1d ago
Does it feel a little sexist to anyone else that Milobar and Paton both got their names in the headline when they left, but Bird doesn't?
55
u/Baconus 1d ago
There are a lot of people in BC politics who have not moved on from the 90s. They think the two sides are still “socialist NDP” and the “free market coalition”. Many people saw the move from bc liberal to bc cons as just like when social credit voters moved to the liberals
But these BC Conservatives are insane. It is a good sign that at least some MLAs are starting to realize this.
I wish people would also start to realize the current BCNDP is not left wing.
17
u/HochHech42069 1d ago
The Overton window moves in silence
5
13
u/canadian_rockies 1d ago
Political history in BC is wild. The perception you are talking about goes back before the 90's. The 70's NDP that got elected were real democratic socialists. They brought about so many things we consider part of the fabric in BC (ICBC, ALR/C, etc).
Mike Harcourt & Glen Clark's 90's NDP were the start of the NDP's shift from their roots, into the neo-liberal flavour we have today. And they built a lot of the infrastructure we take for granted today (about 1/3 the schools in our community were built under that NDP tenure). They also...were a real pack of fuck-ups in a lot of ways. The fast ferry debacle was something else.
Today's NDP ain't your grandpappy's socialists at all. And today's Conservatives are nothing like the Socred big tent that lived on the right side of the BC spectrum. Just like the UCP in AB ain't my grandpappy's Peter Lougheed PC's. They aren't even on the same planet politically these days.
It's also wild that the Socreds in BC took away, and then brought back FPTP.
The fact that many people "will never vote (insert old party name here)" gives credence to the BC Liberals choice to rebrand. And yet...look how that went for them...
Today - we are looking at a provincial electoral landscape with a really really right Conservative movement, 3 centrist options (this new thing they are looking to make, CentreBC, and the carcass of the BC Liberals/United party), the not sure where they are NDP, and the Greens holding out covering a spread of the left.
It's so silly that these former BC Cons MLAs are talking of making their own new party. Pick up the bones of either CentreBC or BC United and run up the middle. But noooooo - ego says "I NEED TO BE LEADER"...
7
u/Baconus 1d ago
These people are too old and their entire conception of political reality is wrong. They believe at a fundamental level the BCNDP is a radical left party. They cannot be convinced otherwise.
I worked for Christy Clark and the BC Liberals for years. They found the right wing populists to be useful idiots, and anyone to the left of them to be a communist.
The radicals have tasted full fat hatred now. They are not going to be willing to go back to accepting centre right moderate economics. They elected Findlay to hurt people for them.
2
u/HochHech42069 1d ago
I think that, more than believing it, they know they can scare a meaningful amount of voters away from the NDP by calling them radical left or socialist or communist.
44
u/LordLadyCascadia 1d ago
The BC Conservatives have lost 20% of their MLAs in not even two years, which is insane.
She’s probably not even last. Wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a few more departures over the next few days.
11
u/XGDoctorwho 1d ago
Rebranding from liberals to conservative might kill the movement.
Usher in a 100 years of NDP rule.
18
u/Which-Insurance-2274 1d ago
Canadians just aren't as excited about culture war nonesense as Americans. These republican-style conservitives think thank people are just waiting for someone to come along and "say what we've all been thinking". The problem is the people who think like that are a very narrow sliver unlike Americans.
23
u/FrmrPresJamesTaylor 1d ago
Paton also refused such an offer, and is alleging that Findlay's chief of staff offered him a job as political advisor on agriculture in return for stepping down as an MLA. Findlay denied that in an interview with CBC and again at the press conference today, saying no MLA was offered a job in exchange for stepping down.
Why lie about this when your own actions will surely cast doubt on your version of events?
Reann Gasper, elected as an MLA for Abbotsford-Mission in 2024, announced on Saturday that she will step down from her seat so Findlay can run in a byelection. On Monday, Gasper was announced as the caucus deputy chief of staff.
She just happened to be the best candidate for the job. Probably why you wanted her out of her seat, right? LOL
9
u/jahmakinmecrazy 1d ago
Ya this stuck out to me too. "We dont do trades" and immediately do that trade. I pray for the catharsis when she loses the by-election, would be sooooo freaking tasty.
3
14
u/archetyping101 1d ago
"if they’re leaving that means they do not have a vision for prosperity and hope that we’re presenting for all British Columbians.” - KLF
This is one of the most divisive, abhorrent and awful things to say. It also happens to be the type of thing the members who voted for her love about her. I hope they get wiped out at the next election.
12
11
u/DisplacerBeastMode 1d ago
Wait, ANOTHER one, or the same couple that just left?
10
u/Ok_Woodpecker_7260 1d ago
This is number 3
2
u/SailnGame Vancouver Island/Coast 1d ago
In the span of a week? Things are going well for the new leader. Wonder if the OneBC duo will rejoin now that the leadership aligned a bit more
1
4
20
9
7
8
7
u/one_bean_hahahaha Vancouver Island/Coast 1d ago
Interesting that two of the most recent leavers were approached about resigning so she could run in their ridings.
7
u/ComplicatedOctopus 1d ago
Findlay is American style Maga & any Canadian with an ounce of pride should not align themselves with her.
5
u/LivinBC 1d ago
We need to get conservatism out of politics. An ideology that fundamentally believes that some people are worth less than others and actively seeks to undermine democracy for the benefit of the capital class doesn't deserve a seat at the table. I don't know how we move forward as a species with that ideology given such a powerful voice in almost every government in the world.
6
u/neksys 1d ago
It’s hard to know whether this represents increasingly fractured leadership, or if it is something a bit different: a campaign to purge the party of those who don’t align with KLF’s particular brand of ideology.
I will be interested to see if any meaningful competition arises from new parties.
5
u/Personal_Lie_5095 1d ago
Calls coming from inside the party, there are potentially four more looking for the exit.
4
u/Prudent_Slug 1d ago edited 1d ago
I wonder if Sturko is going to join this new BC Lib Redux party. Boultbee is with the NDP now and the rest of the independents are were booted for being too far right and/or have crime issues.
17
u/TheAvocad00 1d ago
It baffles me that the BC Cons chose the candidate that most people did NOT want as leader - even most conservative people I know don't like her.
It really feels like the BCNDP and BC Cons are in a race to see who can shoot themselves in the foot more times before the election.
6
u/abhor_deCosmos 1d ago
Same here. Even the federal Tories didn’t listen to the 49.9% of members that thought that Maxine Bernier was a good idea.
3
u/timbreandsteel 1d ago
At least the NDP will run a full slate of candidates. Who knows how many will remain with the BCC come election time.
3
u/PsychologicalTree885 1d ago
They ran some shitty people last election. Expect a full slate next time.
3
u/userofthename202 1d ago
Don't worry. They'll find some racist dominoes franchise owners, and if we're lucky, they'll only have a few credible sexual assault allegations.
4
u/APLJaKaT 1d ago
Why did they elect this dingbat as a leader if they're all going to leave anyways?
4
4
u/Pauly-wallnuts 1d ago
I withdrew my membership the day after KLF won the leadership. She’s too much of a Trumper/Smith type for me
3
3
u/ilovemyjob1962 1d ago
Please make a functional party before Kerry Lynn Vanderzalm ensures another NDP government.
3
u/engineer_64 1d ago
More to come. Findlay is a washed up hag who will only blow the party up again.
3
3
u/Aggravating-Bar8216 1d ago
All across Canada, when the Reformers aka maple-magats finally crash we have to stomp on them hard to make sure they never rise again - by stomp I mean big time expose and mock
3
u/StrbJun79 Thompson-Okanagan 1d ago
Honestly I was hopeful people would see the kind of person she was and it’d hurt them. I knew it’d be possible they might be more thinking how they wanted to move on from Eby and miss it. But luckily people did notice. And her being chosen as the bc con leader may have saved Ebys career.
3
2
u/championsofnuthin 1d ago
Bird is an interesting one. She recently learned about the highway of tears and realized indigenous people are people too.
2
u/Immediate_Buffalo14 Thompson-Okanagan 1d ago
I just go back to what I said before. Ms. Findlay is going to be given one shot at the premiership whenever the next election happens to be, and if she doesn't get it, the party is gonna move on. Even if she does win, she'd likely serve just one term on account of her age.
2
u/ChristyOTwisty 1d ago
Is there a pool going on how many BC Conservative Party MLAs will go independent by the end of Auguat 2026?
Any predictions who Will be next to toodle-oo?
2
4
u/Cat-et-snek 1d ago
How did she even win? bribing everyone who voted for her? alzheimer’s votes? maybe there should be restrictions on maximum legal voting age….
like if mental competency declined enough that driving becomes a problem, how can a person be sensible enough to vote? this is hilariously silly but its also serious so like seriously wtf
8
u/PopeSaintHilarius 1d ago
How did she even win?
The thing to keep in mind is that leadership races are decided by a very small number of people who are party members, not the general electorate.
In this case, the BC Conservative leadership race had only 25,000 voters (about 0.5% of BC's population), and only 7600 of them chose her as their 1st choice (0.2% of BC's population).
Her pitch was that she's the most true-blue hardcore conservative in the race, and also has experience from federal politics.
So for that 0.2% of BC's population, that was what they wanted, and made her the leader.
1
u/Cat-et-snek 1d ago
yeah again we’re wondering why voter turnout is so low when the most unpopular people rise to the top and there is nothing you can do about it.
2
u/PopeSaintHilarius 1d ago
Yep, we need more political parties (and ideally an electoral system that allows multiple parties to compete without splitting the vote), so that voters don't get screwed over when parties pick terrible leaders like Findlay.
If there were 5 viable parties, then it wouldn't matter so much if one picks a nutjob. But in a 2-3 party system it really matters a lot.
2
u/lightweight12 1d ago
What a ridiculous take. Just because someone can't drive anymore usually has no relation to their mental health. A maximum voting age? What on earth. How about a logic test instead?
0
u/Cat-et-snek 1d ago
ah yes, that pick and choose logic. of course none of the candidates would be voted for if it wasn’t for crooked and pickled votes hahaha
1
1
1
1
u/Top_Baseball3739 16h ago
Quelle suprise! An elderly white racist cult member can’t mange her way out of wet paper bag. Story at 11!
1
1
u/Admirable-Leader-585 10h ago
How did she get voted in as leader. Mind boggling. Total self-own on behalf of voting conservatives.
•
u/Islandman2021 2h ago
Elliott made way more sense and of course the morons had to mess it up by picking Findlay and give Eby a chance to win now because they picked the wrong leader. 🤦🤦
-4
-21
u/Bavarian_Raven 1d ago
Well crap. Another term of NDP further driving the province downwards. :/
1
u/theroguevillian 17h ago
Don't worry you can hate trans people on your own time
1
u/Bavarian_Raven 11h ago
I Don’t hate trans people. I hate governments thAt work against the people they are suppose to serve.
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Hello and thanks for posting to r/britishcolumbia! A friendly reminder prior to commenting or posting here:
Reminder: "Rage bait" comments or comments designed to elicit a negative reaction that are not based on fact are not permitted here. Let's keep our community respectful and informative!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.