OneBC MLA Dallas Brodie Says She Has Resumed Role as Leader

Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Dallas Brodie attends a campaign stop in Vancouver, on Oct. 15, 2024. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

OneBC Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Dallas Brodie says she has “regained control” of the party and resumed her role as party leader following more than a week of turmoil in which the party’s executives said they ousted Brodie.

“After negotiations, I have regained control of the party and have reassumed my position as leader of OneBC effective immediately. I am terribly sorry for this conflict that spilled out into the open. It was not what I wanted or ever dreamed could happen,” Brodie posted Dec. 21.

“We know how badly we have all been let down by the establishment and we plan to fight with everything we have so that B.C. can thrive again.”

Some party board members had previously said that Brodie had been removed as leader, alleging in a Dec. 14 statement that she treated various employees poorly and had dismissed staff without due notice.

Brodie responded the same day by saying she had tried to fire a staffer after finding views he allegedly held which she disagreed with. However, instead of carrying out her instructions, she said Chief of Staff Tim Thielmann fired a different member of her staff who had also voiced objections to the staffer’s views.

Brodie’s Dec. 21 post comes five days after former OneBC Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream MLA Tara Armstrong said the party had lost its official status in the B.C. legislature and that she and Brodie would continue on as independent MLAs. Under B.C. legislature rules, a party needs at least two members to retain official party status.

Brodie was removed from the B.C. Conservative caucus this past March by then-Leader John Rustad over comments she made about residential schools. Armstrong left the B.C. Conservatives in solidarity and the two formed OneBC in June, with Brodie serving as party leader and Armstrong serving as House leader.

In fallout from the party turmoil, OneBC candidate for Langford-Highlands Mike Harris said he was no longer running for the party due to the unfolding “soap opera.”

“I’ve been watching the OneBC situation and I’m out. I didn’t sign up for this soap opera,” Harris posted Dec. 14 on X. “No hard feelings for the people. This is just not who I am.”

OneBC currently has two candidates listed on its website: Jim McMurtry for Delta South and James Davison for Abbotsford West.

The current balance of power in the B.C. legislature has the governing NDP with 47 seats, the B.C. Conservatives with 39, the B.C. Green Party with two, and five MLAs as independents.