The Conservative Party of British Columbia is refuting claims of internal turmoil after three breakaway MLAs signalled plans to form a new right-wing party.
The split was prompted after BC Conservative leader John Rustad ejected former justice reform critic Dallas Brodie from the caucus for an interview which he characterized as “mocking” the testimony of former residential school students.
The B.C. Conservatives are facing their first caucus crisis since winning 44 seats in a close election race against David Eby’s NDP in November 2024. Since then, the split has prompted renewed attention on Rustad’s leadership, however, the party has said they remain united, despite the setback.
In response to a request for comment from the BC Conservative caucus, MLA Bruce Banman, the caucus whip, denied that the party was in turmoil.
“The BC Conservative Party remains strong, growing, and more united than ever in our mission to deliver real solutions for British Columbians. Our focus has always been on holding the NDP accountable for their failures on affordability, public safety, and housing, and that hasn’t changed one bit,” he told True North in an email. “We’re seeing record levels of support across the province because British Columbians know we are the only party that will fight for them.”
Rustad fired Brodie, over a clip of the interview where she spoke about those criticizing her social media post, which said “zero-bodies” were found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.
Following Brodie’s ejection, two other BC Conservative MLAs, Tara Armstrong and Jordan Kealy, left the party abruptly in protest. Now, the three considering their next steps, including launching a new party that they say will hold both the BC Conservatives and the NDP accountable in the legislature.
“On Friday, John Rustad demonstrated yet another betrayal of Conservative values by removing Ms. Brodie from caucus,” a statement released by the three independent MLAs said. “Ms. Brodie had correctly stated that there are no confirmed burials at the former residential school site in Kamloops. She was the first elected politician in Canada to make this statement publicly.”
The statement called Rustad’s decision to remove Brodie from the caucus “ironic” considering B.C. United leader Kevin Falcon ejected Rustad just three years prior over climate change comments.
“During an unprecedented economic attack from U.S. and Chinese tariffs threatening tens of thousands of B.C. jobs, we need honest and competent leadership more than ever,” the statement said.
Both Brodie and Kealy told True North that they are “actively exploring the possibility of a new party,” signalling that more will be announced in the coming days.
Armstrong noted that her motivation wasn’t only to rally behind Dallas but views her departure as standing by all of her constituents and every British Columbian “who is being sold out by David Eby and John Rustad.”
Brodie told True North in an email that there are “a lot of unhappy campers” in the B.C. Conservative party right now, and she welcomes them to cross the aisle and join the likely-to-emerge fourth party.
“(BC Conservative) constituents didn’t vote for a woke liberal party that betrays people who stand up for the truth. But that’s what John Rustad has allowed it to become. We are going to stand up for truth and fight for British Columbians with the kind of courage and integrity this moment in history demands,” Brodie said.
“If they want to be free to speak the truth and stand up for British Columbia against the threats we face at home and abroad, then they are welcome to reach out. They have our numbers.”
Brodie promised that whether it be as independent members or a new party, the recently departed MLAs would now have the freedom to stand up for “the truth, no matter the cost,” and represent their constituents with “integrity.”
“Like so many politicians, David Eby and John Rustad lack the courage to confront the challenges we face head on. They’ve sold out to the reconciliation industry that divides and dispossesses the public, which shows you that they are too weak to defend British Columbia against tariffs and other threats to our sovereignty and prosperity,” Brodie said. “There will finally be an alternative to BC’s uni party in the Legislature.”
During the last annual general meeting, a week before the split, BC Conservative members voted for each of Rustad’s preferred slate of executive positions – signalling a unified party under Rustad.
On the other hand, Banman said the MLAs’ departure from the party was unfortunate but the Official Opposition’s mission to hold Eby’s NDP to account remains the same.
“Our team remains focused on exposing the damage this government is doing and fighting for real solutions. If anything, the recent events only reinforce why we need more strong common sense Conservative MLAs in the legislature, so we can replace the NDP’s failures with a government that actually works for the people,” Banman told True North.
Banman said despite the MLAs leaving or being ejected from the caucus he hopes they would still vote alongside Conservatives in matters of importance.
“I’d encourage them to remember why they ran in the first place, and why their constituents elected them,” he said.
How the split began
The splinter began when Brodie, in her role as attorney general critic for justice reform weighed in on a lawsuit between a B.C. lawyer, James Heller and his regulatory body, the Law Society of B.C..
Heller is suing the lawyer regulator for refusing to amend training course materials, which required members to profess that 215 unmarked graves were found at the historic Kamloops Residential School. He also alleges that the society defamed him as a racist for requesting that they update their materials to reflect the evidence.
“The training materials the law society uses say, “On May 27, 2021, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation reported the discovery of an unmarked burial site containing the bodies of 215 children on the former Kamloops Indian Residential School grounds.” Though no bodies have been unearthed and the Kamloops band, on the third anniversary of the discovery of soil anomalies at the site, cited the anomalies as “probable unmarked burial sites.”
Brodie refused to withdraw the post, saying it was completely accurate. In an interview with True North Brodie said in hindsight, she might have expressed that she doesn’t deny any mistreatment or abuse that students of the school might have experienced and only that the claim that bodies were found at the school was inaccurate.
Her comments sparked a backlash from within her former party. B.C. Conservative finance critic Peter Milobar and opposition House Leader A’aliya Warbus were among those countering Brodie’s statements. Warbus called for Brodie to apologize, saying that “questioning the narratives of people who lived and survived” atrocities at the schools, “is nothing but harmful.” Warbus also took to retweeting a B.C. NDP minister on the issue.
Rustad initially asked Brodie to retract her comments but did not force her to do so–a request that Brodie refused.
The last straw for Rustad, however, was when he said Brodie, while defending herself against criticism from activists and political rivals, made “mocking” comments during the interview. During the interview, Dallas spoke of “an individual” within the party who she claimed had “joined the NDP” in the condemnations. Additionally, she claimed some unnamed MLAs “belong in the NDP” and spoke in an exaggerated tone of people relying on subjective truth.
Rustad has maintained that being ousted wasn’t about the validity of her previous statement but was about what he called the inappropriate nature of how she discussed residential school students, some of whom experienced child abuse.
“Correct Dallas — the number of new bodies unearthed at Kamloops is zero,” Rustad said on X. “However, your departure from caucus was based on your choice to go on a podcast and mock victims of molestation & abuse from Residential Schools telling their stories/truths as you put it.
After Rustad fired Brodie, vowing her replacement would pick up her work on the lawsuit against the law society file, Armstrong and Kealy decided to leave the party in solidarity.