VICTORIA 鈥� Three former B.C. Conservative legislators say they'll sit as Independents after a public falling out with Leader John Rustad who they say created a toxic environment and "caved to the woke liberals that have now infiltrated his party"
Dallas Brodie was kicked out on Friday over her comments about residential schools, while Jordan Kealy and Tara Armstrong quit later that day, saying Rustad had abandoned the truth.
Kealy had said Friday that he would be setting up a new party, but Brodie told reporters outside the legislature on Monday that for now they'll be sitting as Independents.
Brodie said that although there are "whispers" of others leaving the Conservatives, she wouldn't give names.
Armstrong said the situation shows how desperate Rustad is to remain in power.
"Jordan and I stood up for Dallas. John Rustad did not. He caved to the woke liberals that have now infiltrated his party, and now he's really revealing just how desperate he is to cling on to that power."
"I am not just standing up for Dallas. I am standing up for every person who unfairly is attacked," she said. standing next to Brodie and Kealy on the steps of the legislature.
The upheaval started when Rustad asked Brodie to remove a social media post last month, where she said "zero" child burials had been confirmed at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. She did not take the post down.
Rustad at first brushed the disagreement off as "family" issues within the caucus, but then an interview with Brodie was posted on social media, in which she criticized people who disagreed with her and ridiculed others.
It was important to have "the truth" about residential schools, "not his truth, her truth, my grandmother's truth," Brodie said during the interview, using a high-pitched sing-song voice.
Rustad said it was Brodie's decision to mock and belittle testimony of former residential school survivors that resulted in her expulsion from his party's caucus.
Armstrong said no one was surprised when New Democrat Premier David Eby attacked Brodie for telling the truth about Kamloops, but Rustad鈥檚 鈥渃owardly decision stabbed her in the back" and revealed "just how corrupt he has become.鈥�
Last year's election saw the provincial conservatives emerge as the right-wing Opposition in the province after the BC United suspended its campaign.
Brodie told reporters Monday that the party started shifting left even before election day when "really good candidates were being replaced" and she realized the BC Conservative Party might not be the right place for her.
"And then after the election, it seemed like there was a bit of a honeymoon period, and people were OK with everything. And then the meetings, the caucus meetings, started to become, not great," she said.
Rustad has described a caucus meeting last week where he says Brodie challenged members to fire her, and asked for a vote among the MLAs to remove her, before making the decision to walk out of the room.
Some B.C. Conservative legislators have publicly announced their support for Rustad since the turmoil.
Former Surrey mayor Linda Hepner, who represents Surrey-Serpentine River, said Sunday that the party 鈥渋s stronger now鈥� since the departure of the three rebels.
鈥淓xtreme right wing views are harmful not helpful,鈥� Hepner said on social media platform X.
鈥淭he big tent is made more easily bigger now.鈥�
Langley-Willowbrook Conservative MLA Jody Toor said on X that Rustad had her 鈥渦nwavering support,鈥� while Penticton-Summerland MLA Amelia Boultbee said Rustad鈥檚 ejection of Brodie had her 鈥渃omplete support.鈥�
鈥淢s. Brodie鈥檚 statements are abhorrent and have no place in the BC Conservative caucus,鈥� Boultbee said in a post Monday.
鈥淭his is not a matter of crusading for truth. This is a matter of the privileged position enjoyed by MLAs, and the importance of fostering respectful dialogue with our First Nations friends and neighbours.鈥�
Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer said in a Facebook post that he stands "110% behind" Rustad.
"Past abuses of our First Nations people are not something to be mocked, nor belittled; it doesn鈥檛 do anything to support reconciliation," he said.
On Friday, Brodie said on X that the "truth is a threat to powerful vested interests in the multibillion-dollar reconciliation industry."
"Politicians like David Eby and John Rustad are willing to sell off British Columbia鈥檚 wealth and power, transferring it from the public to an elite racial minority 鈥� enriching opportunistic lawyers, consultants and chiefs along the way," she wrote.
At an unrelated news conference on Monday, Eby said Rustad did the right thing getting rid of Brodie, although it took him too long to do it.
"It's necessary to stand up for residential school survivors. It's necessary to stand up for our partnership with Indigenous people in this province. That's the way forward for this province to grow our economy and ensure everybody's boat rises," he said.
B.C. Conservative MLA for Kootenay Rockies Pete Davis seemed to allude to the turmoil in a morning prayer Monday in the legislature.
He asked for guidance to help legislators 鈥渟et aside pride, selfish ambitions and division.鈥�
鈥淚 come against any assignment to divide and distract us from the work we are doing here,鈥� he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2025.
The Canadian Press
