Dallas Brodie, Tara Armstrong and Jordan Kealy said they have not decided on whether to form a party and will sit as independents for now
The fallout from the B.C. Conservatives’ ejection of Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Dallas Brodie continued on Monday as she and two fellow MLAs, Tara Armstrong of Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream and Jordan Kealy of Peace River North, accused party leader John Rustad of “caving to the woke liberals” within his party.
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The three said they will sit as independents for now and there are no imminent plans to form a party, but they hope more disaffected members of their former caucus join them and chart a new path for the conservative movement in B.C.
“Why are we here today? Because I stood up for the truth. I stated an undisputed fact. The number of bodies confirmed at the former residential school in Kamloops is zero,” Brodie told reporters, defending herself against accusations of residential school denialism.
“Why the backlash against me and the smears that are going to be coming and the usual? Because this is how Canada’s reconciliation industry operates. This consortium of lawyers, consultants and chiefs, with help from the mainstream media and opportunistic politicians, will attack anyone that dares to challenge their narratives.”
Brodie’s ejection on Friday came after she had called out Conservative house leader Á’a:líya Warbus in a recent podcast episode for saying that Brodie’s comments were a distraction from the real work of reconciliation.
She had also used a falsely high voice while talking about “the truth” of residential schools. Rustad said it was that mocking of residential school survivors that led to her ouster.
Rustad said Brodie had challenged her caucus colleagues to fire her during a meeting on Thursday and that she had then walked out of the room.
“As a result of her decision to publicly mock and belittle testimony from former residential school students, including by mimicking individuals recounting stories of abuses — including child sex abuse, MLA Brodie is not welcome to return to our Conservative Party of B.C. Caucus,” he said.
The statement was shortly followed by announcements from Kealy and Armstrong that they were going to quit the party in solidarity, with Armstrong accusing Rustad of stabbing Brodie in the back.
Armstrong told reporters she didn’t want to get into the details of what happened during the caucus meeting but did say that “a lot of people that wore those pink shirts on anti-bullying day were some of the biggest bullies we had to contend with in our caucus.”
Asked about previous comments that there are at least 20 MLAs unhappy with Rustad’s leadership who may leave the party, Brodie simply said there have been “whispers.”
“I think it clearly is a toxic environment,” added Kealy of the feeling inside the Conservative caucus room.
“We’ll promote and help anybody that wants to leave the party and show them that there is a safe environment, that is respectful, where they can still do their jobs in a powerful way.”