Peter Milobar takes leadership of Centre B.C. as Sturko and Paton join

Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar has taken over as leader of Centre B.C., with six MLAs who had planned to join his yet-to-be-named party instead joining Centre B.C. The change gives the party eight sitting MLAs.

Milobar and former B.C. Liberal MLA and cabinet minister Mike Bernier announced the move at a joint news conference in Vancouver on Friday. Bernier, Centre B.C.’s former leader, said he would step aside to allow Milobar to lead the party. Milobar said the party plans to run candidates across the province if an election is called and that more MLAs will join.

Milobar said Centre B.C. will be “hyper-focused” on health care, climate and street safety. The MLAs appearing with him were Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman, Richmond-Bridgeport MLA Teresa Wat, Boundary-Similkameen MLA Donegal Wilson, Chilliwack-Cultus Lake MLA Á’a:líya Warbus and Prince George-Valemount MLA Rosalyn Bird. Former B.C. Conservative and later Independent Surrey South MLA Elenore Sturko also attended.

Delta South MLA Ian Paton, who was on vacation during the announcement, is also joining Centre B.C. Milobar said Paton was “fully on board and committed” to the party.

Milobar, Banman, Wat, Wilson, Warbus, Bird and Paton are among nine MLAs who have left the B.C. Conservatives since mid-August, citing issues with leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay. Sturko was expelled from the B.C. Conservatives in September 2025 by then-leader John Rustad. Rustad and two other Conservative MLAs were expelled from caucus Friday.

Bernier said Premier David Eby’s hints of a snap election were helping bring people together, and said 51 per cent of people in B.C. were looking for an alternative to the major parties. Milobar said the effort was intended to unify centrist forces and avoid splitting the vote if an election is called. He said he and Bernier had been discussing the move for several weeks.

Milobar said they had planned to announce the move on the Legislature steps on Oct. 5, at the start of the fall session, but criticized the prospect of an election being called less than two years into the government’s mandate. Eby has not called an election, although parties are preparing for the possibility. A provincial election would occur around the time of B.C.’s civic elections, whose general voting day is Oct. 17.

Outgoing Union of B.C. Municipalities president Cori Ramsay has urged Eby not to call a provincial election. With the Abbotsford-Mission byelection running until Sept. 26, a provincial election would require Elections BC to halt paperwork for other political parties seeking registration.