B.C. Conservative leadership candidate visits Fort St. John and Dawson Creek

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — B.C. Conservative leadership candidate and current Kamloops MLA Peter Milobar was in Fort St. John this past weekend for a meet-and-greet with the community.

Milobar hosted a coffee sit down with members of the community at Audielicious seafood restaurant on March 15th, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 

Milobar also hosted an event in Dawson Creek the day prior at Sola’s Bar & Grill from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

In an interview with Energeticcity.ca, Milobar discussed a number of topics, including some of the issues brought up to him by members of the local community.

“In both Fort St. John and Dawson Creek, people had a lot of concerns,” Milobar said. “How would I hold the party together? How would I hold the caucus together? How would we present ourselves as a legitimate option for people to vote for to form government?”

Milobar brought up a recent Mainstreet Research poll that found he is projected to be the only candidate who can form a majority government for the Conservative Party of B.C. 

The poll suggested if Milobar were B.C. Conservative leader at the time of a provincial election, 37 per cent of voters would vote for the Conservatives, while 33 per cent would go for the incumbent NDP. 

Milobar says he is the best suited candidate to defeat the NDP because of his appeal to voters all across the province.

“All the candidates in that polling are doing well in the interior, in the north, as you would expect, but to finally push us over the line, we need to be appealing to voters in the Lower Mainland…

“I’m the candidate that has a message that seems to be resonating with the Lower Mainland.”

Milobar says he is focused on issues that are important to people in both rural and urban areas.

“Focusing on core issues like repealing DRIPA [Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act] and protecting private property rights,” Milobar said. “Healthcare, the economy and getting more pay into people’s pockets…

“These are concerns, whether you’re in a rural area or urban area. That’s how you cut across and make sure the voters understand that we actually do hear them.”

Milobar discussed the issues of healthcare faced by communities across the province, including rural communities. 

“In rural areas, the healthcare challenges are different than in the urban areas,” Milobar said. “Coming from Kamloops, we faced healthcare challenges repeatedly, however not to the same degree that Clearwater or Merritt faces when their emergency room closes. We feel that impact in Kamloops because our emergency room gets busier…

“The north is very similar in terms of, you can’t be reasonably expecting people to drive hundreds of kilometres on snowy, dangerous roads in the wintertime because their emergency room shut down.”

When it comes to healthcare, Milobar says the party needs to prioritize conveying to urban areas it understands the issues they are facing, but also provide a plan for rural and northern B.C.

The new leader of the B.C. Conservatives will be chosen on May 30th, 2026. 

Milobar is the fourth candidate to have visited Fort St. John since the leadership race began. Yuri Fulmer, Darryl Jones and Iain Black have all visited the area.