BC Conservatives asks members to decide allegiance after MLA’s departure from party

This article has been updated to include new information from Jordan Kealy.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Conservative Party of BC (CPBC) is calling for members of the party in the North Peace to decide where their loyalties lie now the region’s MLA has defected.

Jordan Kealy, the current MLA for the Peace River North riding who was elected as a BC Conservative member in 2024, announced his decision to leave the party on March 7th, alongside fellow party member Tara Armstrong.

The pair’s decision came after fellow former Conservative MLA Dallas Brodie was removed from the party due to comments she made about residential school victims on a podcast.

On Tuesday, March 11th, Mark Robertson – the party’s provincial membership chair and director of operations – sent a letter to party members in Kealy’s Peace River North riding, as well as other affected ridings.

“Last week, as a party, we unfortunately lost three of our CPBC MLAs to sit as independents with a plan to establish a new party in B.C.,” the letter reads.

“At a time when our caucus has been demonstrating competence and presenting a government in waiting, this is an unfortunate setback.”

While there was some early discussion about the possibility of the three politicians creating a new party, no further information regarding that idea has been confirmed.

In the letter, Robertson said he needs current party members’ help to build a “strong, common-sense” party capable of dethroning the NDP.

He also says he believes party members in the three ridings now held by newly-independent MLAs are dealing with “mixed emotions about what to do next.”

“As one cannot serve two separate parties, you will need to determine if you will be supporting the independent MLAs by serving on their executives, as volunteers or in a paid capacity.”

Party members who received the letter have until 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 13th to respond with their decision.

Robertson concluded his letter by saying the recipients are “valued party member[s]” and the Conservatives hope they make the decision to remain active participants.

“We went from zero to 44 per cent in just 13 months,” it reads. “We knew there would be bumps along the way, but we hope you are with us in our mission to beat the BC NDP.”

When contacted for a statement, Kealy said he felt people should make their decision on their own, and that he knows “this is going to be very controversial with the fallout all over B.C.