FORSETH – Here’s the candidate best suited to lead the BC Conservatives

The primary job of the next BC Conservative leader will be to build a team and platform that will defeat the BC NDP

I CONSIDER MYSELF to be a long-suffering member of the Conservative Party of BC.

Long-suffering in that I have been a supporter going back to the days of John Cummins, who took over the leadership of the party after many years as a Member of Parliament (MP) in Ottawa.  In the elections of 2013*, 2017, and 2020, not one single BC Conservative candidate was elected … and while there was electoral success in the 2024 provincial election, we came up short of becoming government by several hundred votes**.

A year and a half later, BC’s Conservatives now stand on a precipice as we take the final steps in electing a new party leader, to take over from Trevor Halford who has done an amazing job (IMHO) as interim leader.

From an initial 11 individuals who declared they wanted to lead the party, we are now done to the final five:

Iain Black … served two-term as an MLA (2005 – 2011) and was a cabinet minister in three key economic portfolios. Black was also President and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade from 2011 to 2019

Caroline Elliott … a senior fellow with a leading public policy think-tank. Early in her career she worked at the BC Legislature for the Gordon Campbell government. She was also instrumental in negotiating the deal that saw BC United stand down in the 2024 provincial election

Kerry-Lynne Findlay … a lawyer and former Conservative Party Cabinet Minister (elected 2011 to 2015 and 2019 to 2025). Kerry-Lynne was named the Golden Scissors Award recipient in 2015 by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business for leadership in cutting red tape for small business

Yuri Fulmer … a Vancouver-based business leader, and community builder. He is currently the Global Chair of United Way Worldwide, Chancellor of Capilano University, and Chairman & CEO of Fulmer & Company

Peter Milobar … elected MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson in 2017 and 2020, and Kamloops Centre in 2024. Peter was the Mayor of Kamloops for three terms. He also served as Thompson Regional Hospital District Chair for five terms and as a director for the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.

So, who among those 5 people will make the best leader of the Conservative Party of BC, keeping in mind that their primary job will be to build a team, and platform, to defeat the BC NDP.

British Columbia cannot afford another term of the NDP. In my opinion they must be defeated, and at the earliest possible opportunity.

I believe only one individual is capable of doing that job, and that is Kamloops-Centre MLA Peter Milobar.

We cannot afford to have a leader sitting on the sidelines because they do not have a seat in the legislature. We cannot afford to have one of our elected MLA’s stand down and then wait for months before David Eby calls a by-election. We need a leader ready to go on day one.

Like many reading this, Peter understands the needs of families; he raised three children and now has grandchildren as well. Just like you, he has seen the deterioration of our public health system; something vital to expectant mothers and children that need a doctor when a health crisis arises.  Sadly, that is something families can no longer expect will be available to them.

Our current government has allowed that to happen, and it cannot be allowed to continue.

Schools are overcrowded, with many having portables in areas where children once played. There is a shortage of teachers … a shortage of funding … and a lack of schools being built in areas of rapid growth in cities and towns across the province.

Seniors are wondering where they’ll live, and how long they’ll have to wait, given the BC NDP government is falling further and further behind in providing much needed long-term care beds. To increase concerns, the NDP government of David Eby has just cancelled 5 new long-term care facilities that were scheduled to begin construction.

The drug crisis … mental health issues … street-crime … prolific offenders … All remain out-of-control, and our current government, after nine years in power, still remains unable to provide solutions.

Another area of deep concern is the provincial debt, which continues to rise unabated. This ever increasing debt is consuming an ever-growing portion of the provinces’ finances to pay interest charges (now at $5.1 billion for the current fiscal year, and projected to be $8.7 billion by 2028/29).

Do you know our debt servicing costs are enough to build nearly 80 new schools … two to three new hospitals … nearly 3,000 beds in long-term-care facilities … and it would provide addiction recovery services for thousands of people?

Now granted, the government will always have debt, and debt servicing costs, however, a more than doubling of debt servicing costs (since the NDP took power in 2017) is an outrageous waste of taxpayer resources.

Can all of these issues and problems be fixed overnight?  No of course not. But unless we begin taking steps now, we are in for a serious financial crisis.

Peter has committed to:

• restoring accountability across government — with clear benchmarks, transparent reporting, and ministers responsible for delivering results
• creating an environment for private-sector growth, reduced barriers to investment, and responsible fiscal management to restore opportunity, affordability, and confidence in BC’s economy
• ensuring accountability from health authorities, with set measurable targets, and access to timely, reliable care
• safe streets, thriving local businesses, and real consequences for criminal activity.

• repealing DRIPA and bringing in a legislative framework that will provide transparency, certainty and consistency while affirming First Nation constitutional rights

As a three-term elected MLA, with 30 years of public service, Peter Milobar has the skills, knowledge, and experience needed to get those things done.

For Peter Milobar there will be NO learning curve, and he knows our current caucus inside out!

The next leader of the Conservative Party of BC must be able to go on the offensive immediately after being declared the winner. And Peter Milobar will do it as an elected MLA, from within the BC Legislature.

When I receive my ballot, my #1 choice will be Peter Milobar; I ask you to make him your first choice, as well.

With Peter at the helm of our party, we can be confident he’ll lead us to victory whenever the next election is called; and he’ll do it with a team of MLA’s we can all be proud of.

*It should be noted that Stockwell Day (former Canadian Alliance leader and a Conservative Party MP) has just endorsed Caroline Elliott. Day turned his back on BC’s Conservatives in the 2013 election, instead supporting the BC Liberal Party.

** The NDP took Surrey-Guildford by just 27 votes, and Juan de Fuca-Malahat by 141

Alan Forseth is a Kamloops resident. For 40 years he has been active, in a number of capacities, in local, provincial and federal politics, including running as a candidate for the BC Reform Party in the 1996 provincial election. He is currently President of the BC Conservatives Kamloops North Thompson Riding Association. His commentaries appear on the Substack Political Thoughts at https://alanforseth.substack.com