‘Not an entry-level job’: B.C. Conservative Party leader hopeful visits Peace region

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Curious minds and undecided voters saw Kerry-Lynne Findlay answer questions and greet Fort St. John residents at a pair of town halls this past weekend.

Findlay is one of six candidates vying to replace John Rustad as the leader of the B.C. Conservative Party, and her stop in Fort St. John was one of several visits for Findlay to northern B.C communities, including Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Quesnel and Williams Lake.

She spoke about law and order, affordability, healthcare, education and more in the morning session at the Whole Wheat and Honey Cafe on Saturday, April 4th.

An additional session was held at the same venue during the evening.

A lawyer by trade, Findlay said her decade-plus experience as a former federal MP gives her an advantage over her opponents in the race to replace Rustad.

“This isn’t an entry-level job,” Findlay told Energeticcity.ca. “We’re not talking about just running for MLA in your region, which often comes out of community involvement. I was active in my community. I was speaking up for people in my neighbourhood. And then you have people come to you, saying, ‘you should run for politics.’

“When you’re running for leader of a party, which would make you ultimately the official opposition leader, and then running to be premier.…. it’s not easy, and when you have someone who’s tried and tested, who’s been criticized and been praised, who knows how to handle that, I think it makes a huge difference.”

Findlay, who was appointed the first woman to be the chief opposition whip by federal Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre in 2022, spoke of economic uncertainty with attendees, including the closure of forestry mills throughout the province.

“My dad was a self-employed electrician. We grew up in the house my dad built,” said Findlay. “Often we now have contractors, electricians, carpenters, building homes they can never afford to live in. That’s our reality right now. We have had 31 sawmills closed in five years. It’s a different time.

“[The NDP] is closing down industries [like] forestry, mining and oil and gas. We’ve got people in Atlantic Canada buying their LNG from Australia. We have Japan, Germany and other countries who want our LNG. We need our LNG. These are God-given resources. There are many ways we can reinvigorate these industries. One of the first ways is we need to talk to the people in those industries.”

Findlay also talked of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), an act concerning the rights of First Nations peoples in British Columbia.

She said if elected premier, she would repeal the act entirely, but called for more economic partnerships between First Nations and government.

“The relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous [and] truth and reconciliation is obviously very important,” said Findlay. “There’s a lot of sensitivities, there’s a lot of history that we have to get past.

“But we are here [in] 2026 and if we’re going to have a future together for all British Columbians, we need to find paths forward where everyone is in the dialogue. 

“British Columbia isn’t just a place. It’s not just a territory. It’s the people who live here. And if you’re not including all British Columbians in the conversation, then there’s going to be resentment.”

Findlay was the latest candidate to visit the region, after fellow hopefuls Yuri Fulmer, Peter Milobar and Iain Black also came to Fort St. John on the campaign trail.

Darrell Jones, who was also running, came to visit earlier in March before dropping out of the race.

The next provincial Conservative leader will be announced on May 30th, after online voting begins on May 9th.