VICTORIA — Three former B.C. Conservative legislators have announced they will sit as Independents in the provincial legislature.
Dallas Brodie was kicked out of the caucus on Friday over her comments about residential schools, and Jordan Kealy and Tara Armstrong quit later that day, saying Opposition Leader John 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 and although there are "whispers" of others leaving the party, she won't give names.
Armstrong said Rustad's actions showed he had “caved to the woke liberals who have infiltrated the party.”
She said it shows how desperate Rustad is to cling to power.
“I am not just standing up for Dallas, I am standing up for every person who unfairly is attacked. British Columbians need defending too,” 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.
For about two weeks Rustad tolerated the defiance from his attorney general critic, but the matter came to a head after an interview with Brodie was posted on social media, in which she criticized people who disagreed with her.
During the interview, Brodie said it was important to have "the truth" about residential schools, "not his truth, her truth, my grandmother's truth."
She used a high-pitched sing-song voice to mimic her critics.
Rustad said it was Brodie's decision to publicly 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’s “cowardly decision stabbed her in the back" and revealed "just how corrupt he has become.”
However, other B.C. Conservative legislators have publicly announced their support for Rustad since Friday’s turmoil.
Former Surrey mayor Linda Hepner, who now represents Surrey-Serpentine River in the legislature, said Sunday that the party “is stronger now” since the departure of the three rebels.
“Extreme right wing views are harmful not helpful,” Hepner said on social media platform X.
“The big tent is made more easily bigger now.”
Langley-Willowbrook MLA Jody Toor said on X on Saturday that Rustad had her “unwavering support,” while Penticton-Summerland MLA Amelia Boultbee said Rustad’s ejection of Brodie had her “complete support.”
“Ms. Brodie’s statements are abhorrent and have no place in the BC Conservative caucus,” Boultbee said in a post Monday.
“This 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.”
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’s wealth and power, transferring it from the public to an elite racial minority — enriching opportunistic lawyers, consultants and chiefs along the way," she wrote.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2025.
The Canadian Press
