Timeline of turmoil for B.C. Conservatives, with nine defections in three weeks

The B.C. Conservatives have been in a state of upheaval since former finance critic Peter Milobar quit the official Opposition caucus three weeks ago. The party has since suffered a parade of defections from legislators citing differences with Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay of strategy and ideology.

Here’s a timeline of the turmoil.

Aug. 14: Milobar (Kamloops Centre) quits the caucus, citing a lack of “ideological alignment” with Findlay. Milobar, a former leadership contender and finance critic for the Opposition, had clashed with Findlay in a debate when she accused him of having a conflict of interest because Milobar’s Indigenous wife once held paid positions with the local Indigenous band.

Aug. 22: Reann Gasper (Abbotsford-Mission) resigns her seat so Findlay can run in a byelection. Gasper is appointed Findlay’s deputy chief of staff.

Aug. 24: Ian Paton (Delta South) quits the party, saying the Conservatives’ direction under Findlay no longer aligns with his beliefs and he intends to form a new party with Milobar. Milobar says at the announcement that he and Paton could be a party of two, but suggests there could be more defections.

Aug. 25: Rosalyn Bird (Prince George-Valemount) quits the Conservatives to sit as an Independent, issuing a statement warning about divisive leadership. She says legislators “should be able to firmly reject racism, antisemitism, homophobia and hatred while still having difficult and necessary conversations about immigration, Indigenous reconciliation, addiction, crime, gender, religion and the many other issues on which reasonable people sometimes disagree.”

Aug. 26: Teresa Wat (Richmond-Bridgeport) resigns to sit as an Independent on Aug. 26. She accuses Findlay of reneging on a promise to apologize over “serious and unfounded accusations” reportedly made by Findlay about Wat, calling her “CCP,” a reference to the Chinese Communist Party. Findlay calls Wat’s departure is a “betrayal of the hardworking volunteers, campaign workers and voters who helped get her elected.”

The same day, Brennan Day (Courtenay-Comox) quits the caucus, saying he no longer supports the direction of the party under Findlay. Day says he has lost confidence in the judgment, conduct and ethical standards of Findlay’s leadership and the people she surrounds herself with.

Aug. 27: Bruce Banman (Abbotsford South) quits and rallies other Conservatives to join him “regardless of political affiliation.” He says many have told him Findlay is “unelectable,” and that under her another election win by the NDP is becoming increasingly likely.

Aug. 28: Findlay says suggestions that a recording shows she illegally offered jobs to legislators, in exchange for resigning so she could stand in a byelection, are “preposterous.” Police say they were aware of the purported recording of Findlay addressing Conservative legislators that was released on social media on Thursday. Findlay later announces a caucus meeting to be followed by a news conference on Aug. 31.

Aug. 29: Premier David Eby calls a byelection in Abbotsford-Mission, with voting day set for Saturday, Sept. 26.

Aug. 30: Findlay cancels the caucus meeting and news conference.

Aug. 31: A’a: Liya Warbus (Chilliwack-Cultus Lake) quits the caucus, saying she has lost faith in Findlay’s leadership, citing the sudden cancellation of the caucus meeting and the circumstances surrounding the resignation from the legislature of Gasper to make way for Findlay to stand in a byelection.

Sept. 1: Paton says he has been asked to speak to the RCMP. He says he expects to be asked about his allegation that Findlay’s chief of staff, Chris Delaney, had said that if he stepped down as an MLA so Findlay could run in a byelection, he could be given a position as an adviser at the same salary.

Sept. 2: Legislators Donegal Wilson (Boundary-Similkameen) and Scott McInnis (Columbia River-Revelstoke) quit caucus, both citing Findlay’s reported connections to Alberta separatists as part of a series of concerns. Their departures reduce the Conservative caucus to 28; it had had 44 members after the 2024 election.

Findlay announces that Delaney has resigned as her chief of staff, and she has appointed Gasper to replace him. Findlay says she is the victim of a “co-ordinated political attack.”

Sept. 4: Rosalyn Bird, Bruce Banman and A’a:liya Warbus say in a joint statement that they’re joining the yet-to-be-named party being formed by Milobar and Paton.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 04, 2026.

Canadian Press Staff, The Canadian Press