Finance critic Peter Milobar leaving B.C. Conservative caucus to sit as Independent MLA

Finance critic Peter Milobar leaving B.C. Conservative caucus to sit as Independent MLA

Milobar, who unsuccessfully ran to lead the party, says his values don't align with new leader

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.”“I completely respect the vote of the membership and that Kerry-Lynne Findlay has earned the right as leader to shape the party as she sees fit,” he said in a written statement.

“It has, however, become clear to me over the last few months that my values don’t align with this new direction.”

Findlay said in a written statement that she spoke with Milobar this 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.

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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.

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Milobar unsuccessfully challenged Findlay for the B.C. Conservative leadership and was backed by several Conservative MLAs.

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 has been a Kamloops-area MLA since 2017. Before that, he was a three-term mayor of Kamloops.

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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.