It still doesn’t have a name, but it now has six members.
Richmond-Bridgeport MLA Teresa Wat, who left the BC Conservatives on Aug. 26, has joined the province’s newest political party that was announced last Friday.
She joins fellow former Conservative caucus members Áʼa꞉líya Warbus, Bruce Banman, Rosalyn Bird, Ian Paton and interim leader Peter Milobar as the core of the new party.
Wat, who is in her fourth term after first being elected in Richmond in 2013, said the decision to join the growing team of sitting MLAs as they build the new party came after “careful consideration.”
“British Columbians want a strong, credible alternative to the NDP that is focused on affordability and competent government,” she noted in a provided statement.
“I believe this party can bring people together from across our province and replace the NDP as British Columbia’s government.”
Milobar welcomed Wat to the team and said she brings an “extraordinary amount of experience” to the team, both as a legislator and a former minister.
“Our team is growing because there is a clear appetite for a serious alternative to the NDP,” Milobar explained. “British Columbians are tired of out of control spending and a government who is responsible for the decline of so many sectors in our province. It’s time for change.”
The six-MLA party will sit with official third-party status when the BC Legislature returns on Oct. 5. While Milobar is the interim leader, the party also plans to hold an internal leadership vote before then as well.
The six members make up two-thirds of the MLAs who left the BC Conservatives over the last month. Scott McInnis, Donegal Wilson and Brennan Day remain Independents at this time.
