VANCOUVER – The B.C. Conservatives are losing MLAs at a startling pace, just months after Kerry-Lynne Findlay took over as leader, leading one political scientist to describe the party as “imploding before our eyes.” Seven Conservative MLAs have left the caucus since the beginning of August, including the latest defection announced Monday. University of the Fraser Valley political scientist Hamish Telford says the departures reflect a fundamental shift in what the party is trying to become. “I’ve never seen anything quite like this in Canadian politics before,” he said. “A party sort of imploding before our eyes.” Findlay won the Conservative leadership in May after campaigning on a socially conservative platform focused on “faith, family and freedom.” “I’m fighting for nothing less than the future of British Columbia. Our way of life,” Findlay said on May 30 after winning the leadership. But Telford says the party had functioned as a coalition of conservative and more liberal-minded members united primarily by their opposition to the NDP. That coalition has now fractured. “Kerry-Lynne Findlay campaigned for leadership and has, since she became leader, indicated that she doesn’t want to lead a coalition-style party.” “She wants this to be a decidedly conservative and populist party. Those who are not on board with that program are leaving.” Telford said. The departures have also opened the possibility of a new centre-right political option in B.C. “There is a wide space now between the NDP and Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s Conservatives,” Telford said. “There are many voters in that space that are not happy with the NDP, particularly on fiscal matters. And they’re not happy with Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s Conservatives, particularly on social matters.” One potential alternative is CentreBC, led by former B.C. Liberal cabinet minister Mike Bernier. Former Conservative MLA Peter Milobar has also discussed creating a centre-right alternative. For now, the governing NDP is watching its main opposition party weaken. “I understand that the Conservatives are in significant chaos,” Premier David Eby said Tuesday. “Our focus remains on delivering for British Columbians.” Telford says the Conservatives’ survival could hinge on their support in rural B.C. “What’s really important for Kerry-Lynne Findlay and the Conservatives is that they have a territorial base in the Interior and the North,” he said. In the middle of all this, Findlay is also facing a make-or-break test of her leadership – winning a seat in the legislature. She says she is “focusing her full attention and full energy” on winning the seat in Abbotsford-Mission on Sept. 26. Telford says a victory would likely solidify her position. “If she wins that seat, I think she’s here to stay for a while,” he said. “If she doesn’t win it, there will be a lot of pressure on her to step down.”
