Second MLA leaving B.C. Conservatives, says he will form new caucus

By Canadian Press on March 7, 2025.

VICTORIA — A member of the Opposition B.C. Conservatives says he is quitting the party in sympathy with ousted attorney general critic Dallas Brodie and plans to set up a new party.

Jordan Kealy says he’s lost faith in Opposition leader John Rustad after Brodie’s ejection on Friday, and he will inform the Speaker on Monday that he intends to form a separate caucus.

Kealy says it only takes two members to be recognized as a party in the British Columbia legislature and he knows “for a fact there’s going to be more people.”

He says he’s leaving the Conservatives over the party’s treatment of Brodie, saying he had seen her “verbally getting abused” by six colleagues.

Brodie was dumped by Rustad the day after a showdown in the Conservative caucus room in which Rustad said Brodie challenged colleagues to fire her and asked for a vote on her removal before walking out.

The apparent splintering of the party is the culmination of a rift between Rustad and Brodie that has been brewing since she posted on social media on Feb. 22 that “zero” child burials had been confirmed at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

Marcy Nicholson, The Canadian Press