“We fought so hard for the last two years, it feels heartbreaking to be where we are today.”
—Donegal Wilson
If it was any other person, from any other party, at any other time—Kerry-Lynne Findlay would be out by now, overthrown from her crumbling throne as BC Conservative Party leader.
Not many politicians can survive the resignation of nine caucus members, the ouster of their hand-picked lieutenants to run the caucus and party, a simmering RCMP probe and numerous audio leaks of key meetings and untoward conversations.
Except Findlay. Who just does not seem to care about the mounting pressure around her, or how fast the party is burning, as long as she remains in charge.
The embattled leader is blaming all of it on an immense conspiracy to derail her from winning the Abbotsford-Mission byelection.
“These allegations are baseless,” Findlay said in a statement Wednesday, from what one can only imagine is a bunker deep inside Conservative HQ.
“What we are seeing is a coordinated political attack designed to sidetrack our campaign at the very moment we are taking our message directly to the people of Abbotsford-Mission.”
The latest MLAs to resign, Boundary-Similkameen’s Donegal Wilson and Columbia River-Revelstoke’s Scott McInnis, have different stories.
‘We were going to form government’
“We fought so hard for the last two years, it feels heartbreaking to be where we are today,” Wilson said in an interview.
“The dam broke. I don’t understand. We were on a high. We were going to form government. Somehow we’ve got a leader that just is insistent on taking us backward.”
The ER department in Wilson’s community has been on limited three day a week service for six years, with only one ambulance serving the region. But instead of talking about that, Wilson said Findlay and her senior team spent time on generating AI videos of Premier David Eby dressed in a soviet-era war uniform presiding over a map of the province like a dictator at war.
“We were focused on fringe issues that were not important to the constituents of the Boundary-Similkameen,” she said.
McInnis’s departure is particularly notable, as he has become a star critic for the party on the issue of Indigenous relations.
The former teacher pointed to “an accumulation of events” that included “a tremendous lack of direction,” no inclusion on caucus strategy, behind-the-scenes drama, and “ethical questions raised about some of the individuals that the leader had brought on board to help her make decisions.”
“As time went on here, the discussions here in Columbia River-Revelstoke got louder, that although people really appreciate me as their MLA, they just couldn’t envision themselves supporting the Conservative party moving forward,” he said in an interview.
“And I think they realized for me that the values that were being displayed and the direction we were taking was not something that that you know aligned with me as a person.”
‘Selfish’ liberals, leaked audio and no turnaround in sight
McInnis became the ninth MLA to quit the Conservatives in 19 days, a mass exodus that is reminiscent of the collapse of the BC United party in 2024.
The resignations have been met by counterattacks from some Findlay supporters, which at this point have narrowed down to a handful of the remaining Conservative MLAs she promoted to leadership positions, anonymous social media accounts and a few far-right influencers in areas like opposing trans rights.
They, and Findlay, have accused the departed of being “selfish” secret liberals, who aren’t loyal to the Conservative movement, are part of a coordinated conspiracy and don’t want to defeat the NDP.
That included Findlay’s chief of staff Chris Delaney, who abruptly resigned Wednesday just minutes before leaked audio was posted online of him describing First Nations people as “natives” who historically starved to death because they weren’t smart enough to make more food until white people taught them about conservation.
Delaney did not apologize for his comments in a resignation letter he later posted online using Conservative Party letterhead.
“The enemies of B.C. and the enemies of democracy, like those who have walked away in previous days, are determined to prevaricate, misrepresent, mischaracterize and outright lie to try to stop Kerry-Lynne from standing in their way of delivering B.C. into their hands,” he wrote in a message that said the province would slide into “tyranny and dictatorship” if Findlay failed to win the byelection.
“They will do anything to stop you from defending your province and your democracy.”
Delaney’s ouster means Findlay has lost her handpicked chief of staff, director of operations and party executive director all within two weeks.
Still, Findlay remains unrepentant. There’s no sign of a turnaround, olive branch or outreach.
Wilson said she hung on in the hopes Findlay would allow for an urgent caucus meeting this week to discuss issues. But instead, at the last minute, Findlay cancelled Monday’s meeting. That left MLAs in the dark about what was happening in their own party, she said.
“Most of the things we found out as a caucus were honestly from social media,” she said. “The communication was almost non-existent with the caucus.”
RCMP investigate allegation of illegal job offer
What happens next?
The RCMP are now circling the issue, amidst allegations from Delta South’s Ian Paton that Delaney offered him a job and salary equal to MLA pay if he stepped aside for Findlay to run. A financial inducement for a politician to vacate office is forbidden under the criminal code.
Paton met with RCMP investigators Wednesday at E Division headquarters in Surrey to repeat his story to them directly. Two other MLAs may also have spoken to the RCMP.
Paton said he was informed that he may have to be a witness in court if the case progresses and he’s willing to do so.
Meanwhile, McInnis and Wilson are both waiting to see how an alternative party formed by ex-Conservatives Peter Milobar and Paton shapes up.
There are now only 28 Conservative MLAs left of the 44 elected fewer than two years ago. The loss of 10 more would imperil the Conservative status as Official Opposition.
Not that Findlay seems to care.
The MLAs who’ve quit have come to the realization that the leader intends to burn the party down, rather than leave.