New party to include five former B.C. Conservative MLAs

Five MLAs who left the B.C. Conservatives will be part of a new, as-yet-unnamed party that organizers say will offer a “stable, serious alternative” to the governing NDP.

Rosalyn Bird, Bruce Banman and A’a:liya Warbus said in a joint statement Friday that they will join the party being formed by Peter Milobar and Ian Paton. All five are among nine MLAs who have left the Conservative caucus over the past three weeks, citing ideological and strategic differences with leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay.

Milobar, the interim leader, said the group has received strong support from around the province and that people are helping establish the party quickly. The B.C. Conservatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The statement said the party will hold a leadership vote before the legislature returns on Oct. 5 and plans to sit with official third-party status. Warbus said opponents of the governing New Democrats need to focus on defeating Premier David Eby’s government in the next election, adding that they have at most two years to be election-ready.

Banman said he hopes the new party will give right-of-centre voters an option other than the B.C. Conservatives. The Conservative caucus has seen a series of departures under Findlay, who narrowly won the leadership in May. Scott McInnis and Donegal Wilson were the latest MLAs to leave, doing so Wednesday.