Bruce Banman walks out on Findlay, calls her 'unelectable'

PENTICTON — Hopes that a whole day might pass without another defection from the Conservative Party of BC were thwarted late Thursday afternoon, with Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman becoming the sixth legislator to walk out on Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay in two weeks..“Person after person has informed me they have decided that our new leader is unelectable,” Banman said. “So, with a heavy heart I am announcing today I am joining an ever increasing number of MLAs to sit as an Independent MLA in the BC Legislature. I would encourage my fellow MLAs regardless of political affiliation to join me.”Banman's departure is particularly notable, as he was one of the original architects of the modern Conservative caucus. He crossed the floor from BC United on September 13, 2023, joining then-leader John Rustad and giving the party the second seat it needed for official status in the legislature. He later served as house leader and whip, and was re-elected in 2024 with 62% of the vote.“When John Rustad and I started this movement in 2023, we did so on the premise of fiscal responsibility and bringing common sense back to BC politics,” Banman wrote. “I am so proud that we came so close to forming government in the 2024 provincial election.”The hope, he said, did not survive the leadership that followed. “After numerous conversations with many of my constituents, it has become clear under the new leadership and direction of the Conservative Party of BC, an NDP win is becoming increasingly likely. For the sake of the future of this province we must defeat this NDP government.”.Radio host and former BC Liberal MLA Jas Johal, who has tracked the week’s exits in real time, put the same news in plainer language.“BREAKING - 6th MLA leaves the BC Conservative Party. Bruce Banman is out,” Johal wrote. “Panic at the disco? More like blood on the dance floor.”.He is the sixth sitting Conservative to leave Findlay’s caucus since August 14. Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar went first. Delta South MLA Ian Paton followed on August 24. The pair have said they will register a new centre-right party before the fall sitting. Prince George-Valemount MLA Rosalyn Bird quit Tuesday, citing “political infighting, name-calling and division.” Richmond-Bridgeport MLA Teresa Wat left Wednesday morning after Findlay’s leaked leadership-campaign chat branded her “CCP” and a promised apology never appeared. Courtenay-Comox MLA Brennan Day followed Wednesday afternoon, saying he had lost confidence in Findlay’s “judgment, conduct, and ethical standards and those she has chosen to surround herself with.”Banman is a different kind of departure. He is not a recent BC United convert nursing a slight. He was the second MLA into the modern Conservative caucus, the floor-crosser who made official party status possible, and the member Rustad named whip in November 2024. On Monday, after Paton walked, Findlay handed him the agriculture critic file on top of tourism. By Thursday he had handed both back.He won Abbotsford South in October 2024 with 61.61% of the vote, 13,053 ballots to 7,454 for New Democrat Sarah Kooner. He first took the seat in 2020 as a BC Liberal, later sat under the BC United banner, and crossed to Rustad on September 13, 2023. Before Victoria he was mayor of Abbotsford from 2011 to 2014, a city councillor, and a chiropractor who has lived in the riding since 1982..He tested the leadership himself this winter, then suspended the campaign fairly quickly on March 15 and endorsed entrepreneur Yuri Fulmer. Ironically, Fulmer spent Wednesday afternoon asking Conservatives to stay put. In a video posted to X, the man Banman once backed as the party’s future said defeating Premier David Eby “only happens if we stay united behind Kerry-Lynne Findlay,” and that walking away “betrays everyone who voted, donated & believed in a strong Conservative voice.”.Less than 24 hours later, Banman walked.Findlay won race on May 30, emerging as the first-place candidate across all four ballots, narrowly defeating Caroline Elliott by a 51% margin on the final vote.As a party, the BC Conservatives won 44 seats in 2024. After Banman’s announcement they are down to 32 sitting caucus members, not counting Abbotsford-Mission MLA Reann Gasper, who has said she will resign her seat so Findlay can seek it in a by-election.Neither Findlay nor the Conservative caucus had issued a public response at the time of publication. Banman closed by telling colleagues the "exit door is open." The MLA who helped start the movement in 2023 is now asking the rest of the legislature, “regardless of political affiliation,” to sit with him outside it.

Bruce Banman walks out on Findlay, calls her 'unelectable'

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