‘Trump-style’ or ‘progressive-ideas’? Both sides rush to redefine B.C. Conservatives

But interim B.C. Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson, who was installed on Sunday after Findlay’s resignation, moved quickly to distance his party from Trump as he addressed media with caucus members after the election call.

“B.C. and Canada are facing unacceptable threats, tariffs and rhetoric from a bully south of the border,” Doerkson said. “The NDP’s failure to grow and diversify trade has left us even more vulnerable to the United States and the attacks from that bully.”

Reporters asked Eby on Wednesday about his critiques of the Conservatives, given Doerkson’s anti-Trump comments, and said “whether it’s any one of the last four leaders of the Conservatives in the last ten months, the ideas are the same.”

He said there are now three parties gunning for conservative votes, with former Conservative MLA Elenore Sturko now at the helm of CentreBC, while MLA Brent Chapman, Findlay’s spouse, has jumped to OneBC.

University of British Columbia political scientist Stewart Prest said in an interview that the NDP is going to attempt to make the case that those who supported Findlay are still in the party, despite the contrast with Doerkson’s approach.

“I think this is going to be one of the dominant questions of the election, what is this version of the Conservative party? Because we’ve seen a number of them,” Prest said.

Eby said the choice being put to voters involves either standing up to Trump or “folding” and embracing his policies that would “turn us into America junior.”

“That’s the Conservative vision. People deserve that choice. They need to have that choice in this moment,” the NDP leader said.

Eby pointed to a tweet by Conservative member Heather Maahs from February 2025 as she reacted to the imposition of 25 per cent tariffs by Trump, saying “Eby needs to comply. For the greater good!”

“The Conservatives advocate cozying up to Trump, doing what he says; in the words of Heather Maahs, ‘comply’ with Donald Trump,” Eby said.

Peter Milobar, who rejoined the Conservatives on Tuesday after quitting the party because of Findlay, said he’s returned to a “progressive-ideas, conservative-values” party.

A’a:liya Warbus, one of the few Indigenous members in the B.C. legislature, was also among a group of seven CentreBC members who rejoined the Conservatives.

She said in a statement that Findlay’s exit is a chance for the party to take a “responsible, progressive-conservative approach.”

Findlay’s leadership that lasted less than four months saw her try to frame the Conservatives as a party of “faith, family and freedom.”

She mostly avoided interviews with traditional media, instead speaking with conservative influencers, and last month put out an AI social media video depicting Eby as a Stalin-like leader waging a “culture war” on B.C.

Prest said Doerkson seems to “embody the more moderate version of conservatism,” and the campaign will involve a “framing battle over what the conservatives really are, when in reality, elements of both those factions are still very much there within the party.”

The NDP caucus suggested on Wednesday that Doerkson’s rise didn’t matter, because the Conservatives’ constitution prohibits an interim leader from seeking the position permanently, and changing the rule requires a vote.

“What the B.C. Conservatives are saying is that British Columbians should write a blank cheque to the same far-right party members that just picked Kerry-Lynne Findlay as their leader,” NDP candidate and longtime minister Mike Farnworth said in the caucus statement. “Why would people ever trust them after what we’ve seen?”

Prest said the NDP would try to paint the Conservatives as “MAGA north or Maple MAGA,” but the sudden coalescence around the newly-minted interim leader and the exit of Brent Chapman and the “fringe views” he represented had changed the race.

“That is a different electoral map than we thought we were going to be facing, certainly different than what I think the NDP were anticipating,” Prest said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2026.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

‘Trump-style’ or ‘progressive-ideas’? Both sides rush to redefine B.C. Conservatives

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