peter milobar leaves b.c. conservatives, cites clash with leader kerry-lynne findlay
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b.c. conservative mla peter milobar, left, at the legislature in victoria in may.
chad hipolito
/
postmedia
the b.c. conservatives lost another mla with peter milobar leaving the caucus on friday.
in a statement, milobar said he and kerry-lynne findlay, who won the party’s leadership at the end of may, don’t see eye-to-eye. findlay has been pushing the party hard to the right.
“i completely respect the vote of the membership, and that kerry-lynne findlay has earned the right as leader to shape the party as she sees fit,” said milobar, the mla for kamloops centre.
“it has, however, become clear to me over the last few months that my values don’t align with this new direction. with that in mind, effective immediately, i will be sitting as an independent member of the b.c. legislature.”
calls friday to milobar were not answered.
several mlas told postmedia they found out about milobar’s exit through the media, while another said they were in a meeting when those present asked them about it.
a candidate in the recent leadership race, milobar clashed with findlay because his wife is indigenous and has worked part time as a receptionist for the tk’emlúps te secwépemc first nation in the past. findlay said it would represent a conflict of interest for the longtime mla if he won the leadership.
milobar finished last, receiving 11.4 per cent of the votes, while findlay won on the fourth ballot, narrowly beating out political commentator and academic caroline elliott.
findlay and milobar indicated they could work together, with findlay keeping milobar as finance critic.
a former mayor of kamloops from 2008 to 2017, milobar was first elected under the b.c. liberal banner in the 2017 election.
milobar is the seventh mla to either resign or be kicked out of the conservative caucus since the 2024 provincial election, joining surrey-cloverdale mla elenore sturko, vancouver-quilchena mla dallas brodie, kelowna-lake country-coldstream mla tara armstrong, peace river north mla jordan kealy, richmond centre mla hon chan and penticton-summerland mla amelia boultbee.
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brodie was ejected by former leader john rustad in march 2025 after comments about residential school survivors, with armstrong and kealy resigning in solidarity.
sturko was kicked out of caucus by rustad last september over criticism of his leadership, with boultbee resigning shortly after in october.
chan was removed by interim leader trevor halford in march 2026 after he was charged with assault, choking and uttering threats in a domestic violence incident. the allegations have not been proven in court.
findlay has faced a myriad of controversies since becoming leader less than three months ago, including the firing or resignation of most caucus and party staff and the leak of a campaign group chat where she insinuated richmond-bridgeport mla teresa wat is associated with the chinese communist party.
in a statement posted online, findlay said she spoke to milobar on friday morning and wished him nothing but the best in the future.
“i sincerely thank him for his many years of service to british columbia and his excellent work as the conservative party of bc’s shadow minister for finance,” said findlay.
“peter has been a valued member of our team and i wish him nothing but the best in his future advocacy.”
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