Riding association president quits BC Conservatives over Findlay seat demands

PENTICTON — Randy Hawes has quit the BC Conservatives and resigned as president of the Abbotsford-Mission riding association, saying leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s demand that MLAs step aside for her was “very wrong.”.In a Facebook post, Hawes said he believed a new leader would steer the party toward the centre-right after concerns about some “too far right” members. “How wrong I was!” he wrote after Findlay’s selection.Hawes specifically criticized Findlay for asking MLAs to surrender their seats so she could run, while not making the same request of her husband, Surrey South MLA Brent Chapman. “She lives there but apparently did not ask her husband to step down,” Hawes said. “Ms. Findlay should have asked her husband to step down!”Hawes, born in Edmonton in 1947, moved to Mission in 1979. He served as Mission councillor, three consecutive terms as mayor from 1993 to 2001, and again from 2014 to 2018. As a BC Liberal he represented Maple Ridge-Mission from 2001 to 2009 and Abbotsford-Mission from 2009 to 2013, including a stint as Minister of State for Mining under Gordon Campbell.In May 2026, Summit Earthworks Inc. filed a notice of civil claim alleging Hawes defamed the company in a Facebook post that claimed it had been sanctioned for illegal dumping of contaminated soil in the Fraser Valley. Hawes deleted the post after a demand letter but has said he stands behind its truth and has not issued a retraction or apology. The matter remains before the courts..The resignation comes days after Abbotsford-Mission MLA Reann Gasper announced she would step aside to clear a path for Findlay in a byelection. Hawes, who previously served as MLA for the area and as Mission mayor, said he thought Gasper had been doing a “great job.”Hawes described Findlay as a “huge step to the far right,” noting some media portrayals of her as “MAGA light” and saying her choice of interim leader amplified that perception. He said British Columbians prefer centre-right or centre-left governance and that he supports fiscally conservative government “with a heart.”“I don’t see that happening with this leadership,” Hawes wrote. He said he is resigning from both the party and the riding association presidency and hopes a new centre-right or centre-left party emerges “to rid us of both far left and far right extremes.”The departure adds to a string of exits under Findlay’s leadership, including MLAs Peter Milobar and Ian Paton, who both left to sit as independents, along with earlier board and staff changes.

Riding association president quits BC Conservatives over Findlay seat demands

Related Stories

Liberals admit Afghan War memorial will include Algonquin land acknowledgement

Cabinet approved Afghanistan combat mission after cursory discussion

'Brampton man' charged after alleged sexual assault of youth at Canada's Wonderland

TRAFFIC JAM! Blueberry spill shuts down Mission roadway