Why two B.C. MLAs are stepping away to build a new option for ‘politically homeless’ voters

MLAs announce split on legislature steps

Delta South MLA Ian Paton and Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar are teaming up to establish a new political party in the coming weeks. Announcing the decision Monday morning on the steps of the B.C. legislature, Paton confirmed he is leaving the Conservative Party of B.C. caucus to sit as an Independent. According to reporting from the Vernon Morning Star and Penticton Western News, Milobar will serve as the interim leader of the new organization.

Dissatisfaction with party leadership

The departure follows internal tension after Kerry-Lynne Findlay won the B.C. Conservative leadership race in May. Because Findlay remains without a seat in the legislature, she requested that at least three sitting MLAs step aside so she could run in a byelection, a request Paton declined. Abbotsford-Mission MLA Reann Gasper announced Saturday that she would step down for Findlay, though a byelection date has not been set. Paton revealed that Findlay offered him an advisory role on agriculture if he relinquished his riding, and that he subsequently resigned from his appointed position as Lower Mainland lieutenant.

Paton cited severe dissatisfaction with party management under Findlay, noting that communications staff attempted to prevent reporters from contacting him directly regarding his agriculture critic portfolio. Comparing the situation to professional hockey players adapting to an unworkable management change, he remarked, “Maybe the new coach isn’t quite working out for us.”

Aiming to offer a fresh alternative

Milobar, who recently resigned from the Conservative caucus, indicated that additional party defections may follow. Both politicians expressed a desire to represent citizens who feel left behind by current options, arguing that ten years of B.C. NDP governance has left the province in “disarray” and that they cannot let the opportunity for change “slip on by.” Their goal is to build a distinct political home for those who currently feel “politically homeless.”