Peter Milobar will sit as an Independent MLA. He says his value don't align with new B.C. Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay.
Milobar, who unsuccessfully ran to lead the party, says his values don't align with new leader
Katie DeRosa · CBC News
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B.C. Conservative Finance critic Peter Milobar is leaving the Conservative caucus, citing differences with the party's new leader.
Milobar said in a statement on social media: “Effective today, I’m sitting as an Independent MLA. This isn’t the end of the conversation, it’s the start of one.”
Milobar told CBC News that while he respects that Kerry-Lynne Findlay has earned the right as leader to shape the direction of the party, that direction does not align with his values.
Asked for specifics, Milobar says it was no single issue or grievance with Findlay that led to his decision.
"It was a combination of watching how things have been unfolding ... all you have to do is look at my social media to see I haven't really been overly aggressive in retweeting and sharing party things or the leaders' posts, which I normally would be on the attack on those topic areas," he said.
Findlay said in a written statement that she spoke with Milobar Friday morning about his decision. She thanked him for his many years of service to B.C. and his excellent work as finance critic.
"Peter has been a valued member of our team and I wish him nothing but the best in his future advocacy," Findlay said.
Shifting party
It’s the first blow for the new B.C. Conservative leader, who has been facing divisions among centrist and former B.C. Liberal MLAs and right-of-centre MLAs in the big tent party.
Findlay has shifted the party to the right since winning the leadership in May.
She has fired former B.C. Liberal staffers and hired her own team, including staffers connected to the Alberta Republican Party, which supports separatism, and media outlet Juno News.
Findlay also posted last weekend that she had dinner with OneBC leader Dallas Brodie, who was kicked out of the B.C. Conservative caucus by former leader John Rustad. Rustad accused Brodie of mocking residential school survivors.
Some MLAs have told CBC News they are concerned about any moves to bring back Brodie or Tara Armstrong, who left the Conservative caucus in solidarity with Brodie.
"Certainly this decision wasn't predicated on any one person or any one decision or any one incident," Milobar said.
Milobar unsuccessfully challenged Findlay for the B.C. Conservative leadership, and was backed by several Conservative MLAs.
He says it's too early to say if he will join another party or start his own.
Milobar was asked by CBC News if he sees a prospect that the party will split along ideological lines.
"That seems to be an ongoing conversation for Conservatives across this country, in terms of the depth of conservatism or not. And what is the standard that is acceptable or not? So again, I'll leave that for others to make their determinations or their decisions," he said.
He and Findlay clashed during a leadership debate. He accused her of saying that he was in a conflict of interest on Indigenous files because his wife is Indigenous.
Findlay later clarified that she was referring to the fact that his wife and members of his family worked for the Kamloops Indian Band.
Milobar admitted Findlay's comments during the leadership race factored into his decision, saying, "I'd be lying if I said it didn't."
He has been a Kamloops-area MLA since 2017. Before that, he was a three-term mayor of Kamloops.
Milobar is the seventh MLA to either leave or be kicked out of the B.C. Conservative Party since it became the Official Opposition.
Corrections
A previous version of this story listed Rebel News as one of the organizations from which Kerry-Lynne Findlay hired staff. In fact, no one from Rebel News is among Findlay's recent hires.
Aug 14, 2026 7:17 PM EDT
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katie DeRosa is the provincial affairs reporter for CBC British Columbia. She is based in Victoria. You can contact her at katie.derosa@cbc.ca.
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