B.C. Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman listens during a news conference in Richmond, B.C., on July 30, 2024. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck
Bruce Banman has announced his departure from the B.C. Conservative Party to serve as an Independent, citing concerns about the party’s leadership. He is the sixth MLA to leave the party in the past two weeks.
“After numerous conversations with many of my constituents, it has become clear under the new leadership and direction of the Conservative Party of BC, an NDP win is becoming increasingly likely,” Banman said in an Aug. 28
statement
posted on social media.
The Abbotsford South MLA said the party needed to focus on affordability, housing, healthcare, and public safety. He encouraged other B.C. Conservative MLAs to also leave the party to sit as independents.
Findlay, a former federal Conservative MP and Minister of National Revenue, has not yet commented on Banman’s departure.
Findlay previously said in an Aug. 25 statement the party would open nominations to fill recent MLA vacancies, and that the door was “open to those who want to build, not tear down.”
She added
that the party was “already attracting strong, capable nominees who share our commitment and love their communities.”
“Recent resignations from our caucus are a matter of public record. Our Party’s path is clear and unwavering: we will deliver hope, opportunity, and lasting prosperity to all British Columbians,” Findlay said.
Richmond-Bridgeport MLA Teresa Wat and Courtenay-Comox MLA Brennan Day announced on Aug. 26 they were leaving the B.C. Conservative Party to sit as Independents.
Wat said “serious and unfounded accusations” Findlay made about her during the party’s leadership race—that she was associated with the Chinese Communist Party—caused her to leave, while Day said he had “lost confidence in the judgment, conduct, and ethical standards of her leadership and those she has chosen to surround herself with.”
Wat said Findlay never apologized, but Findlay said in
an Aug. 24
statement that she apologized to her directly on July 29 and prepared a statement addressing her remaining concerns.
Prince George-Valemount MLA Rosalyn Bird announced her departure on Aug. 25 to sit as an Independent, hinting at internal conflicts within the party. Ian Paton of Delta South in Victoria said on Aug. 24 he too was leaving the Conservatives to sit as an Independent and would be helping ex-Tory Peter Milobar form a new party.
Milobar, who ran against Findlay in the recent leadership race, was the first MLA to announce he was leaving the B.C. Conservatives, saying in an Aug. 14 statement that his “values don’t align” with the direction Findlay was taking the party.
