No time to waste for Milobar as ex-B. C. Conservatives join new party of five MLAs

It’s been a busy three weeks for Peter Milobar.

Since announcing he was leaving the British Columbia Conservative caucus on Aug. 14, setting off an exodus from the party, Milobar has gathered with fellow defectors into what is being billed as the “stable, serious” alternative to the NDP.

On Friday, three fellow ex-Conservatives said they would join Milobar and Ian Paton in that as-yet-unnamed new party announced 10 days ago, after weeks of chaos in the official Opposition under leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay.

The recruits are among nine legislature members who have recently quit the Opposition during a time that has seen Findlay’s chief of staff resign and the RCMP looking into allegations that MLAs were offered jobs if they resigned.

“We simply don’t have the time and the luxury to just sit back and quietly work in a backroom for four or five months,” Milobar said Friday in an interview.

“We need to try to be gathered and cohesive going into a legislative session, and that gets very, very hard if you’re trying to be a group of, you know, X number of independents operating all independently yet together.”

Rosalyn Bird, Bruce Banman and A’a:liya Warbus said in a joint statement Friday that they’re joining the new party, with Milobar as interim leader until a vote can be held.

Milobar said those involved in forming the party have been “incredibly open and transparent” as they try to pull together what’s required at lightning speed, in time for the fall legislative session that is scheduled to begin on Oct. 5.

“This is admittedly a little bit bumpy, but it’s also necessary. It’s what we need to do to be able to fight a general election with some eventual stability into this process and moving forward,” Milobar said.

Those who have quit the Conservative caucus have been unhappy with Findlay’s leadership and those in her orbit, with Banman this week calling out what he called a “purity test” of whether MLAs are “hard right enough.”

The Conservatives came out of the 2024 election with 44 seats in the legislature. But a series of defections, first under former leader John Rustad and now under Findlay, have seen their ranks shrink to 28.

Milobar said that since he and Paton announced plans to start a new party, “there’s been a huge groundswell of people wanting to know what’s going on” as they continue to work through the required paperwork to get official status with Elections BC.

“Frankly we also don’t and can’t afford to have multiple groups putting in months and months and months of parallel work, knowing that only one group can move forward if we’re going to have any chance of success,” he said.

“And that group needs to have MLAs attached to it, or you know, it’s just not going to be a viable option for the electorate in their minds.”

The legislators’ statement said the new party is to hold a leadership vote before the legislature resumes, when it hopes the party will sit with official third-party status.

Milobar said it’s too soon to have a full platform and policy points to release but that the five members have had a chance to meet to discuss the future of the party.

“This is about creating (a) serious and stable political party that is focused on the economy and focused on natural resource development, focused on health care, focused on protecting private property rights, in a way that the public sees themselves in and trusts, and that’s ultimately what we’re creating,” he said.

“(Voters are) fed up with the NDP. They cannot see themselves voting for the BC Conservatives, and they’re asking for something like this that is not so hardcore ideologically driven, but better reflects how people live their daily lives and their daily thought process.”

The B.C. Conservatives referred a request for comment to Findlay’s byelection campaign in the Abbotsford-Mission riding, which did not immediately respond.

Warbus said people who oppose the governing New Democrats must focus on defeating Premier David Eby’s government in the next election.

“We have, at most, two years to be election-ready to defeat the NDP, and joining Peter and Ian is a commitment to making sure voters have a strong alternative when that election comes,” she said in Friday’s joint statement.

“There’s no time to waste — Peter and Ian have been moving forward at full-steam ahead and I’m ready to get to work alongside them.”

Banman, meanwhile, said he hopes the new party will provide right-of-centre voters with a choice other than the B.C. Conservatives.

“British Columbians want options, and we intend to give them a strong one,” he said.

Emily Lowan, the leader of the B.C. Green Party, which is currently the third party in the legislature with two seats, shrugged off the new party in a statement Friday.

“I’m less concerned about the drama the Conservatives and their offshoots are creating and more concerned that they’re a distraction from the urgent needs British Columbians are facing from an out-of-control affordability and climate crisis,” she said.

Meanwhile, the NDP caucus took its first swing at the new party in a statement Friday, saying both conservative parties would make life harder for British Columbians.

“B.C.’s newest party is a conservative spinoff that would make cuts and continues to welcome MLAs who push far-right conspiracy theories,” the statement said.

Gaining official party status would mean a budget from the legislature.

A statement from the clerk’s office said for each member, a caucus receives a budget of $121,240 annually, pro-rated from the date of its formation.

The statement said the leader of an opposition caucus other than the official Opposition receives an additional budget of $455,587, also pro-rated.

The clerk’s office said it doesn’t have information yet on how office space or time during question period would be divided.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2026.

— With files by Chuck Chiang

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press