B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay is shaking up the party’s caucus leadership team, installing loyalists who backed her campaign in several key roles.
Chilliwack North MLA Heather Maahs will lead the Official Opposition on an interim basis, presumably until Findlay can secure a seat through a byelection. This would require a sitting MLA to step down, and while none have stepped forward yet, there are rumours that several have offered their spots.
In the meantime, Maahs said she will still take cues from Findlay.
“It’s a temporary thing, and our hope is that Kerry-Lynne will get a seat sooner than later,” Maahs told Black Press Media. “But in the interim, I’m very happy to be able to serve her and the party in this position.”
Findlay could be forced to wait for the rest of the year. Even if another MLA steps down, Premier David Eby can delay a byelection for up to six months.
Prince George-North Cariboo MLA Sheldon Clare — who ran for leadership himself before dropping out and endorsing Findlay — will be the new Conservative house leader, replacing Chilliwack-Cultus Lake MLA Á’a:líya Warbus.
MLA Cariboo-Chilcotin Lorne Doerksen will be the deputy house leader, Macklin McCall the whip, Reann Gaspar the deputy whip, Jody Toor the caucus chair and Bulkley Valley-Stikine MLA Sharon Hartwell the caucus representative to the party board.
More loyalists are being given regional roles.
Salmon Arm-Shuswap MLA David Williams will be the Okanagan and Interior lieutenant, North Island MLA Anna Kindy will be the Vancouver Island lieutenant, and Delta South MLA Ian Paton will be the Lower Mainland lieutenant. Maple Ridge East MLA Lawrence Mok, Richmond-Queensborough MLA Steve Kooner and Surrey South MLA Brent Chapman (Findlay’s husband) will be stakeholder relations lieutenants.
Except for Toor, Gaspar, Paton and Doerkson, all of the new members of the leadership team had publicly backed Findlay in the Conservative leadership contest.
Maahs put this down to values.
“I share the same values as Kerry-Lynne, and that’s why I supported her in the very beginning,” she said.
Maahs has clashed with others within the caucus, most notably former Conservative caucus member Elenore Sturko, who was publicly at odds with her after Maahs invited the Christian lobby organization Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) to the legislature, a group known for its opposition to abortion, medical assistance in dying and youth gender transition.
Sturko was later accused of organizing against former party leader John Rustad and kicked out of the party. She has called herself “politically homeless” due to her moderate social views, but fiscal and law-and-order conservatism.
Other moderates still in the party, such as former interim leader Trevor Halford, were left out of the leadership team.
But where some see division and a shift to the right, Maahs sees consistency. She also said Halford did “a fabulous job” as interim leader.
“It’s the same messaging,” she said. “Nothing has changed.”
Maahs expects Findlay to announce a shuffle of critic portfolios later in the week, though she was unsure what changes there will be.
Findlay did not appear publicly to announce the caucus leadership changes, and has not spoken to the media or held any public events since the days immediately following her election as B.C. Conservative leader almost one month ago. She declined to speak on the subject Monday through a spokesperson, though said she would be available later in the week.
The B.C. NDP have criticized this fact, running a daily tally on social media of the days since her last appearance.
Maahs defended Findlay, saying she is “a busy lady” and there isn’t much more to it.
“She just got elected, and lots of organizing to do,” Maahs said. “I’m not sure where David Eby thinks she should be, but she’s right where she needs to be, getting our party sorted out.”
Findlay will preside over the first full caucus meeting since her election on Thursday and Friday in Penticton, with a press conference scheduled at 12:30 p.m. on Friday.
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