Kerry-Lynne Findlays says 'I'm not going anywhere'

PENTICTON — Conservative Party of BC leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay told the Union of BC Municipalities convention Thursday she is staying in the job after two sitting MLAs asked her overnight to resign."I'm not going anywhere," she said from the podium, answering the late-night Vancouver caucus and questions about a snap election. She said nobody wants an election and that the party will be ready if Premier David Eby drops a writ..Findlay was on the UBCM stage hours after an emergency caucus in a Vancouver office tower. Separately, CHEK's Rob Shaw, CTV's Robert Buffam and Global's Jordan Armstrong each reported that two unnamed sitting MLAs asked her there to step aside and that Findlay refused. Interim Official Opposition leader Heather Maahs walked out of that meeting and called it "absolutely fantastic." Asked whether Findlay had stepped down, Maahs said she "absolutely" had not..Shaw, reporting from the same Thursday event, wrote Findlay confirmed she is aware of "allegations" a private investigator was hired to investigate certain people. She said she had no knowledge of the work and was unaware of it. The party, she said, is investigating how it happened..DeRosa then put a name on the claim in a scrum question. Specifically, she asked Findlay about allegations that Elaine Allan, who was party executive director for a short stretch this summer, hired a private investigator to look into several MLAs, including some who remain in the caucus. Findlay said she knows “nothing about it.” “The party is looking into it,” Findlay continued..The Western Standard has not independently confirmed that any investigator was hired to watch MLAs, who paid, or that Allan commissioned the work. Findlay's answers Thursday treat the story as an allegation under an internal review. Allan has not answered the question on the record. A party source told the Western Standard on August 28 that president Mauro Francis and vice-president Pavneet Singh had relieved her as executive director. The party has not confirmed that on the record either..The anonymous X account @thefindlayfiles posted the investigator claim Thursday morning, hours before the speech. The handle wrote that Wednesday night's room was told a private investigator had been hired to gather information on "former colleagues, but maybe current members as well," and that it was unclear whether the party, the caucus legislative budget, or "other sources of funding" paid..Findlay still has no seat. The sitting Conservative caucus numbers 28, not counting vacant Abbotsford-Mission. Nine colleagues left between August 14 and September 2. Voting day in that by election is Saturday, September 26. Advance voting opens Friday.A snap writ would cancel the contest under Election Act s. 24(2). Eby spent a Surrey news conference Wednesday naming Cheryl Oates as the New Democrat campaign manager and telling his caucus and Elections BC to “be ready.” He still would not set a date. "I'm not making any announcements today about election dates," he said.Findlay won the leadership May 30, 51% to 49% over Caroline Elliott. A caucus request is not a removal under the party constitution. Article 11.02 lets a leader leave by resignation, death, incapacitation, or a membership review that falls below 50%. The May vote reset the review clock in Article 11.04.The legislature is set to return October 5.

Kerry-Lynne Findlays says 'I'm not going anywhere'

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