MLAs Day and Wat join B.C. Conservative exodus, blaming Findlay’s ethics and conduct

His exit came hours after Richmond-Bridgeport MLA Teresa Wat announced she would also be an Independent, saying Findlay had failed to apologize over “serious and unfounded accusations” the leader reportedly made about her in a group chat.

Wat said the “distasteful, hurtful” remarks questioned her allegiance to Canada and made her doubt her place in the Conservatives under Findlay. She cited widely reported remarks attributed to Findlay calling Wat “CCP,” a reference to the Chinese Communist Party.

Wat, whose riding is heavily ethnically Chinese, said in an interview Wednesday that she saw the impact the comment was having after returning from holidays two weeks ago.

“I started to see how this has stirred up so much anger, so much concern, so much frustration, so much despair among the Chinese Canadian community,” she said.

She said some were concerned that Findlay did not deny making the CCP claim and that Wat had not addressed it, suggesting it generalized the Richmond Chinese community as members of the CCP.

In her statement, Wat said the allegations “caused real damage to my reputation and had created serious concern within the community.”

Wat said Findlay told her this week there would be an apology, but none had been issued.

“I cannot continue to sit in a caucus led by someone who has questioned my loyalty without evidence and, when given the opportunity to correct the record, has failed to do so,” her statement said.

She also released a near-identical statement in Chinese.

Wat and Day joined Prince George-Valemount’s Rosalyn Bird, who quit Tuesday, and Ian Paton, who left on Monday. Peter Milobar, a former Conservative leadership candidate and finance critic, announced his departure earlier this month, becoming the first MLA to leave the party since Findlay narrowly won the leadership ballot on May 30.

Findlay called Wat’s departure a “betrayal of the hard-working volunteers, campaign workers and voters who helped get her elected.”

She said in a statement Wednesday that she apologized to Wat privately in July and the pair issued statements addressing the matter, but that nearly a month later Wat wanted a second apology.

Findlay said she had prepared a statement on Monday addressing Wat’s concerns and the MLA “wrote that she was supportive of its contents.”

“I was prepared to publicly address the matter in good faith. MLA Wat’s resignation post this morning was made without any prior communication to me,” she said.

“I am disappointed in MLA Wat’s actions after making repeated efforts to address her concerns directly and in good faith.”

Day said in his statement that public office demands integrity and he cannot ask others to meet that standard while “remaining silent” when he believes his “own party’s leadership has fallen short of it.”

In between the departures of Wat and Day, Findlay fired Apollo Chung, the director of operations for the B.C. Conservative caucus.

The announcement did not elaborate, but it followed the release of purported audio recordings of Chung on social media.

The Conservative caucus and executive staff have been in turmoil under Findlay’s leadership. In addition to the rapid depletion of the caucus, high-profile staffing departures have included president Aisha Estey, vice-president Sharon White and executive director Angelo Isidorou.

On Tuesday, Findlay told reporters that other MLAs may leave the caucus after the departures of Paton and Milobar. Bird quit hours later.

All three cited a divergence of the party’s values under Findlay from their own as a major reason for parting ways.

In her statement, Bird said B.C. residents “should be able to firmly reject racism, antisemitism, homophobia and hatred while still having difficult and necessary conversations about immigration, Indigenous reconciliation, addiction, crime, gender, religion and the many other issues on which reasonable people sometimes disagree.”

Paton and Milobar have said they intend to form a party that offers a political home for voters who do not support the Conservatives under Findlay or Premier David Eby’s New Democrats.

Milobar said in an interview Wednesday that announcing plans for a party to be officially recognized in the legislature was in anticipation of other colleagues potentially wanting to leave.

Wat said she would decide whether to join Milobar and Paton’s party while she focused on serving constituents and explaining why she became an Independent.

Milobar said broadly that his decision to leave had started to “alert people that there are serious systemic issues” in the party.

“Less than people needing every single detail, I think the actions of MLAs are speaking loud enough on their own,” he said.

He said the aim was for the new party to be “well underway and operational by the sitting of the legislature on Oct. 5.”

The B.C. Conservatives came to the brink of power in 2024, winning 44 seats, but their ranks have since dwindled to 32.

MLA Elenore Sturko, who was fired from the Conservative caucus in September 2025 by then-leader John Rustad and now sits as an Independent, said she expected more people to leave the party.

There was conflict even during the last provincial election campaign as some in leadership positions tried to push the party further right, she said in an interview on Wednesday.

But Sturko said things became worse under Findlay, who cleaned house of many staff.

“I think that there was the staff, at least, that were providing support. There was quite a balance between people who were moderate and people who were less moderate in their views,” she said.

“And to (Rustad’s) credit, he actually was able to maintain the balance a little bit better, actually quite a bit better to be honest, than what I’ve seen with (Findlay).”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 26, 2026.

Ashley Joannou and Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

MLAs Day and Wat join B.C. Conservative exodus, blaming Findlay’s ethics and conduct

What's Trending