PENTICTON — Former British Columbia premier Christy Clark is openly advising the remaining Conservative MLAs to get off the ship. Appearing Tuesday on The Jas Johal Show on 730 CKNW, Clark said the three MLAs who have already left under new leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay “got it right” and that more should follow. “Don’t be the last one to close the door on the B.C. Conservative Party. Whoever is the last one that jumps off the boat, will be the one that drowns,” Clark said. .The interview came hours after Prince George-Valemount MLA Rosalyn Bird became the third member of the caucus to quit in 11 days, citing values, integrity and a desire to reject the “infighting, name-calling and division” she said now defines the party. Bird joins Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar, who left August 14, and Delta South MLA Ian Paton, who exited Monday. Milobar and Paton have announced plans to form a new centre-right party seeking official status in the legislature. Clark told Johal the free-enterprise coalition that once defined the centre-right in British Columbia has no home under Findlay’s leadership, which she has previously described as too “kooky” to win an election. Intriguingly, Findlay’s office had already circulated talking points instructing MLAs to brand Clark an NDP stand-in well before the former premier's interview with Johal.The July document, posted by Johal, told caucus members Clark “lost the confidence of British Columbians,” that her only remaining credibility was as someone “out of touch with voters for years,” and that “the NDP and their proxies like Christy Clark are desperate and stooping to school-yard name-calling.” The same memo ordered MLAs to insist the caucus was united and a government-in-waiting. Global’s Keith Baldrey reported at the time the language was not going over well inside the room..The CKNW promo clip and full interview capture Clark’s blunt assessment of the party’s trajectory since Findlay won the leadership on May 30. Findlay, who does not hold a seat, has spent the summer remaking the party and caucus. She elevated leadership-campaign loyalists into key roles, oversaw significant staff turnover, and has faced public criticism from departing MLAs over purity tests, communications style and direction. Paton alleged a senior Findlay staffer offered him a paid agriculture-advisor role equivalent to an MLA’s salary if he vacated his seat for a byelection. Findlay has denied offering any such inducement. .Bird, Paton and West Vancouver-Capilano MLA Lynne Block all publicly confirmed they rejected requests to step aside so Findlay could run. Abbotsford-Mission MLA Reann Gasper later resigned her seat to clear a path for the leader. Findlay has called the departures of Milobar and Paton “selfish” and insisted the party remains a big tent open to former Liberals, centrists and others who want to defeat the NDP. Clark’s intervention lands as the Official Opposition continues to shrink. The Conservatives won 44 seats in the 2024 election. After earlier exits under former leader John Rustad and the latest three departures, the caucus now sits at 35. Johal, himself a former BC Liberal MLA, centred the interview on the “practical question” facing remaining members: stay and risk being the last ones left, or follow the three who have already walked. Clark’s answer was unambiguous. The last one off the boat, she said, is the one who drowns.
