By Harinder Mahil

It appears that the BC Conservative Party has not learnt any lesson from the John Rustad leadership fiasco. Now they have gone even further to the right by electing Kerry-Lynne Findlay.

The right-wing faction of the Conservative Party is elated by Findlay’s election. But so are members and supporters of the NDP. It will be much easier for the NDP now to distinguish their policies from those of the Conservative Party.

Findlay now has a difficult task of uniting the party. This may well be challenging for her as she won with the support of only 51 percent of those who voted. Caroline Elliott, who finished second, was close behind at 49 per cent. On the fourth ballot, Findlay received 10,907 votes and Elliot 10,847 – a gap of only 60 votes out of about 22,000 who voted.

John Rustad struggled to keep the moderate former B.C. Liberals and the right-leaning members – together. Now Findlay has to show how she can keep the party together when during the campaign she did everything to cause divisions.

During the leadership debate, Findlay suggested that her rival Peter Milobar would be in a conflict of interest on indigenous policy issues because his wife and children are indigenous. Milobar described her comments as offensive and inappropriate. Another leadership candidate Iain Black accused her of “dividing people based on race” and described it as a “clear pattern of behaviour.”

During her campaign, she took a stand against B.C.’s inclusive education guidelines known as SOGI, saying she would “protect our children, keep men out of girls’ locker rooms, and put parents back in charge.”

She also has to deal with a possible Elections Canada investigation into her unsuccessful 2025 federal campaign spending to see if rules were broken.

NDP Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside slammed Findlay in a statement, calling out her “racist attacks” on leadership candidate Peter Milobar. Not only the NDP criticized her for her extreme positions but also many political commentators.

In her victory speech, she said: “”Faith, family and freedom, that’s what it’s all about – and I can’t wait to get started.” This is a slogan used by some right-wing groups in the US.

There is no doubt Findlay has taken some extreme positions. If she is smart, she will moderate her positions now that she has become the leader of the official opposition in the province. Otherwise, she risks alienating British Columbians, weakening democratic institutions, and making practical solutions more difficult to achieve.

More importantly, she risks dividing her party and pushing some MLAs to form a party of their own.

Let us see what her leadership means for the direction of the Conservative Party and the future of politics in British Columbia.

Harinder Mahil is a community activist and is secretary of Dr. Hari Sharma Foundation.