British Columbia Minute: Issue 130

British Columbia Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of British Columbia politics.

📅 This Week In British Columbia: 📅

• Kerry-Lynne Findlay has resigned as leader of the BC Conservatives, less than four months after taking the position, amid significant turmoil within the party. Her resignation came shortly after MLA Linda Hepner left the caucus, bringing the total number of BC Conservative MLAs who have departed since May to 14. Findlay said internal conflict had consumed too much of the party’s attention and that she had faced personal attacks and threats. The party now faces uncertainty over who will serve as interim leader, while several former MLAs have joined CentreBC. The leadership turmoil comes as speculation continues that Premier David Eby could call a snap provincial election ahead of B.C.’s scheduled municipal elections on October 17th. Findlay will remain the Conservative candidate in the Abbotsford-Mission byelection on September 26th.
  
  
• Last week, Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar and CentreBC leader Mike Bernier announced in Vancouver on Friday that their two groups are merging under the CentreBC banner, with Milobar taking over the leadership from Bernier, a former BC United MLA who does not hold a seat. The merged party will have eight seats in the Legislature, drawn largely from MLAs who left the Conservatives in recent weeks. They include Ian Paton of Delta South, Bruce Banman of Abbotsford South, Donegal Wilson of Boundary-Similkameen, Teresa Wat of Richmond-Bridgeport, A'aliya Warbus of Chilliwack-Cultus Lake, and Rosalyn Bird of Prince George-Valemount, along with Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Elenore Sturko, who was expelled by then-leader John Rustad in September 2025. Milobar, who finished last in the Conservative leadership race won by Kerry-Lynne Findlay, says the merger is an attempt to offer a united alternative and to prepare for a snap election he describes as unnecessary in its timing. He says the new party will concentrate on health care and on crime and street safety, and that he has been talking to former Conservative colleagues about joining. Milobar wanted to use the name BC Party, but Elections BC would not allow the change before the Abbotsford-Mission by-election. There has been no word on what will happen to this party now that Findlay is gone.
  
  
• Premier David Eby told the Union of BC Municipalities Conference in Vancouver on Friday that the Government is suspending the expansion of the provincial sales tax to professional services that had been set to take effect on October 1st. Pausing the expansion means the Province will forgo roughly $260 million in revenue in 2026-27, at a time when it is already projecting a $13.8-billion deficit. Finance Minister Josie Osborne claims the pause will protect jobs and help local governments that use professional services manage the cost of delivering infrastructure and community services. The exemption will be maintained through a temporary regulation and covers accounting and bookkeeping, architectural, geoscientist and engineering services, non-residential real estate commissions, and security and private investigation services. Eby also announced $75 million to expand three business support programs, including a manufacturing jobs program. The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, whose members sent more than 4,000 letters to MLAs through its Stop the Squeeze campaign, welcomed the decision and says it will keep pushing to make the pause permanent. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said a recent consultation found 72% of businesses would have passed the new costs on to consumers.
  
  
• Finance Minister Josie Osborne presented the Province's first quarterly fiscal update on Monday, raising the projected deficit for 2026-27 to $13.8 billion, $450 million more than was forecast in February. Revenue is now expected to reach $86.3 billion, $789 million above Budget 2026, but spending has risen faster. Fire-management costs are running about $614 million over budget, and refundable tax credits cost an extra $458 million as more people claimed the renters' tax credit and the production services tax credit. Osborne also addressed the natural gas royalty error in Budget 2026 that had been reported at $1.5 billion, saying the overestimate will end up closer to $800 million over five years once the royalty money comes in. Total provincial debt is forecast at $180.9 billion by the end of the fiscal year, and real GDP growth is projected at 0.9% for 2026 before recovering to 1.9% in 2027. Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar called the report a "pretty depressing read" and argued that spending is out of control, pointing to capital projects left out of the budget including seven long-term care facilities and the second phase of the Burnaby Hospital redevelopment. Former premier Christy Clark warned that without faster economic growth the government will end up cutting health care and education.
  
  
• The BC Supreme Court has ruled that the provincial government had no authority to require doctors who trained outside Canada to work in rural and remote communities as a condition of getting a residency position. Justice Matthew Kirchner found that the Health Ministry's return to service requirement, which applies to graduates of non-Canadian medical schools but not to graduates of Canadian ones, interferes with a Canadian citizen's liberty interest in deciding where to live free from government interference. The contracts commit doctors to practise for two or three years in a location determined by the Minister. Penalties for breaching them can reach close to $900,000 for a psychiatry practitioner and $480,000 for a family doctor. The case was brought by Canadian citizens Oliver Kostanski and Harris Falconer, who trained abroad, along with an advocacy group. The court left the two-stream residency system in place, which their lawyer Brian Samuels described as a mixed success, noting that nearly all Canadian-trained graduates get residency positions while only around 20% of internationally trained graduates do. Kirchner suspended his ruling for 60 days to give the ministry time to respond, and Health Minister Ravi Kahlon says the Province is reviewing the decision and will adjust legislation or rules if it needs to.
  
  
• BC Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay has removed three MLAs from her caucus: former party leader John Rustad, former interim leader Trevor Halford, and Skeena MLA Claire Rattée. The Office of the Clerk of the Legislature confirmed on Friday that it had been instructed to take the three off the list of Conservative MLAs. The expulsions followed a letter signed on Thursday by 10 Conservative MLAs asking Findlay to step aside, which she rejected, and a tense caucus meeting on Wednesday. It was disclosed at that meeting that Rattée had been under surveillance by a private investigator along with at least 12 other people. Five other MLAs were among them, and the investigator was allegedly hired by the party's former executive director, Elaine Allan. Findlay said there is no room for internal power struggles or vanity projects and that the party needs everyone focused on defeating the NDP government, while Rattée countered that Findlay cannot remove incumbent MLAs because she is not an elected representative and therefore not the caucus leader. The removals leave the Conservatives with 25 MLAs, down from 38 when Findlay became leader three months ago and 44 at the time of the 2024 provincial election.
  
  

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