MLA Paton claims Findlay’s chief of staff offered him a paid job for seat resignation

PENTICTON — Delta South MLA Ian Paton has accused Conservative Party of BC Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s chief of staff of offering him a paid party staff role matching his legislative salary in exchange for resigning his seat so she could run in a byelection.Paton said the offer came in two phone calls with Chris Delaney in late June and early July, ahead of a July 2-3 caucus retreat in Penticton. “The chief of staff, Chris Delaney, phoned me twice, we talked on the phone and up in Penticton about me stopping down,” Paton told CHEK reporter Rob Shaw. “And he said, if you step down we’ll give you a staff role for two years as agriculture advisor for the party and pay you the same amount you’re getting if you’re an MLA.”British Columbia MLAs currently earn $122,043 a year. Paton refused the request. He was one of three Conservative MLAs who publicly confirmed they turned down appeals to vacate their seats for Findlay, who won the party leadership on May 30 without holding a seat in the legislature.Veteran political reporter Rob Shaw detailed the allegation in a column published Tuesday, noting the potential legal implications under the Criminal Code, which prohibits selling or purchasing a resignation from elected office in exchange for a reward or profit..Shaw’s post highlighted the ethical and legal questions raised by the claim. During the Penticton retreat, Paton said Findlay approached him at a coffee station and expressed disappointment. “We’re at this coffee station getting coffee and she goes, ‘Well, Ian, I’m pretty disappointed you turned down our offer to give up your seat,’” he recounted.Findlay denied the accusation in a statement Monday. “At no point was there any offer or discussion regarding MLA Ian Paton stepping down from his seat in exchange for a job of any description, salary, or position,” she said. “MLA Paton insisted that if he were to ever leave elected office, he wanted to remain involved in agriculture in some capacity. In response, it was noted that should he no longer be a sitting MLA or member of caucus, there would be openness to discussing an unspecified advisory role related to agriculture in the future.”.The dispute forms part of a wider pattern of pressure on MLAs to clear seats. Abbotsford-Mission MLA Reann Gasper resigned her seat last week, creating a byelection opportunity for Findlay. Findlay then appointed Gasper her new deputy chief of staff the day after the resignation was confirmed. On Tuesday morning, former Mission mayor and BC Liberal MLA Randy Hawes resigned as president of Gasper’s Abbotsford-Mission riding association and quit the party, calling Findlay’s demand that MLAs step aside “very wrong” while noting she had not asked the same of her husband, Surrey South MLA Brent Chapman..Paton quit the Conservatives Monday and announced he would join Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar in forming a new, yet-to-be-named centre-right party at the legislature. Both cited a lack of confidence in Findlay’s judgment and leadership. “There’s no way the BC Conservatives are going to win an election with her as leader,” Paton said.The Conservatives have dropped from 44 to 35 MLAs since the 2024 election. Paton, a third-generation farmer and longtime agriculture critic, described Findlay as an uncommunicative leader who had purged talented staffers in favour of loyalists and created an uncomfortable environment for members with BC Liberal histories. He said he had almost no direct contact with her after she asked him in June to serve as her Lower Mainland lieutenant. Paton later stepped down from that role, citing family and farm responsibilities.The threshold for official party status in the legislature remains two MLAs. Milobar has said additional Conservative MLAs may yet join the new grouping.

MLA Paton claims Findlay’s chief of staff offered him a paid job for seat resignation

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