Five former B.C. Conservative MLAs have formed a new party, and at least one of them believes they could soon become the Official Opposition. The comments come as the leader of the B.C. Conservatives battles to unite her party and fights for a seat in the Abbotsford–Mission byelection. “I believe the way things are going, we could become the Official Opposition as a new party prior to this fall session starting,” said Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman, who recently left the B.C. Conservatives and has joined the as-yet-unnamed new party. Its interim leader is fellow Conservative defector Peter Milobar, who represents Kamloops Centre. Banman also believes the exodus from the B.C. Conservatives isn’t over. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay told CTV News Friday that she has no way of knowing if there will be more defectors. “They haven’t really been consulting me before making their decisions,” she said as she emerged from a caucus meeting in Abbotsford. “I don’t think we’ve had a lot of time to gel after the leadership race. And, a lot, perhaps they’re leaving on assumptions. Perhaps someone like Peter Milobar is leaving because he didn’t win and he thinks his ideas are still best. I don’t know,” she said. “It’s too bad, but I’m not going to let it deter me from my focus, which is the people of Mission and Abbotsford and the province of British Columbia,” explained Findlay. She said her caucus meeting Friday was “really positive.” “It was a great meeting,” she said. But many members of her caucus were not present. “I asked them if they could come out, and about half of them could. It’s the beginning of a long weekend. It wasn’t mandatory. I just said, ‘Come if you can,’” she explained. A poll done in June of 800 B.C. residents found nearly half believe the province needs a centre-right party to serve as an alternative to the B.C. New Democrats and the B.C. Conservatives. “If Milobar can establish an emotional connection with voters and get some of those old B.C. Liberal, B.C. United voters behind them, this could be a significantly closer race than what we’ve seen before,” said Mario Casenco, president of Research Co., the company that conducted the poll. Meanwhile, Banman said that once again, “Politics in British Columbia is a little wild and full of action.” He said a new party name has been chosen, but they are waiting on Elections B.C. to approve it. “What I hear British Columbians saying is they’re sick and tired of fringe politics on the left, which the NDP is full of, and they’re sick and tired of fringe politics on the right. What they want is a stable, serious, rational choice, and that’s what we’re going to give them,” said Banman, who admitted he is getting some backlash from constituents for leaving the Conservatives. “Sure, I’m getting some, but what I’m really getting more of is, ‘Thank you. You did the right thing,’” he said. By contrast, Findlay said many constituents in the ridings of former Conservative MLAs are reaching out to say they still support her. She also said she’s focused on the byelection and getting her party’s message out. “We basically want to get back to common sense, back to basics. We want more reasonableness. We want a government that listens to the people,” she said. “I want to stay here. I’m here to win this byelection.”
