Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Dallas Brodie is back in charge of the One B.C. party after a disagreement with Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream MLA Tara Armstrong led to a party split.
“As you may be aware, OneBC has gone through a difficult ten days where control over the party was being contested,” Brodie wrote in a Dec. 21 social media post. “After negotiations, I have regained control of the party and have reassumed my position as leader of OneBC effective immediately.”
Brodie had tried to fire a staffer for allegedly espousing antisemitic and racist views, but Armstrong and other party officials reportedly retained the 22-year-old man on as a party employee.
Brodie instructed her chief of staff, Tim Thielmann, to fire the staffer from a job in the caucus, but says he and party executive director Paul Ratchford turned around and rehired the man on the party side. Brodie then fired Thielmann and Ratchford, who, as party board members, teamed up with Armstrong to oust Brodie as leader.
This led to a week of negotiations over who would retain control of the party. During that time period, Armstrong’s name was the only one that appeared on the party website. Brodie posted on Monday (Dec. 21) on social media that she had regained control, and her name now appears on the site as the only sitting One B.C. MLA.
“I am terribly sorry for this conflict that spilled out into the open,” Brodie wrote on social media. “It was not what I wanted or ever dreamed could happen.”
In a written comment from Armstrong, she stood by her decision to part ways with Brodie and sit as an Independent.
“Recent events have confirmed my earlier decision to withdraw my support for Dallas Brodie’s leadership of OneBC,” Armstrong said. “I lost confidence due to concerns over personal conduct and stability, and I stand by my choice to sit as an Independent.”
Because a party needs at least two MLAs to be recognized in the legislature, Armstrong and Brodie will now both technically serve as Independents.
“This allows me to represent my constituents without the distractions of internal party matters,” Armstrong said. For her, this means continuing to work against what she calls “the reconciliation industry,” as well as “mass migration,” “divisive land acknowledgements,” and “oppressive taxation.”
These stances have proven controversial in the legislature, with Armstrong and Brodie unable to get any private members’ bills past first reading. As Independents, it will be even more difficult for them to gain funding and have their voices heard regularly in question period.