Donegal Wilson joins CentreBC as breakaway caucus merges with registered party

Peter Milobar is named leader of an eight-MLA CentreBC caucus, while Elections BC’s Sept. 19 registry continues to list Mike Bernier as party leader

Boundary-Similkameen MLA Donegal Wilson has joined CentreBC after the group of former B.C. Conservative MLAs she joined earlier this week merged with the registered provincial party.

The merger was announced Sept. 18 in Vancouver by Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar and CentreBC leader Mike Bernier. An updated release sent to media said Bernier would step down and Milobar would become the party’s new leader.

The release identifies an eight-MLA CentreBC caucus consisting of Milobar, Wilson, Ian Paton, Rosalyn Bird, Bruce Banman, Elenore Sturko, Teresa Wat and Áʼa꞉líya Warbus.

Elections BC’s registered-party information had not yet reflected the leadership change as of Sept. 19 and continued to list Bernier as leader of Centre BC. CentreBC’s Sept. 18 announcement, however, states that Bernier stepped down and Milobar took over the position.

For Wilson, the merger comes four days after she announced that she was joining six other MLAs who were working to establish a provincial party.

Wilson said Sept. 14 that she had not intended to join another party after leaving the B.C. Conservative caucus but reconsidered after meeting with the Independent MLAs involved.

“When I left the BC Conservative caucus, I left because I could no longer support the leadership of Kerry-Lynne Findlay,” Wilson said. “I said then that I was leaving a caucus, not my principles, and that has not changed.”

Wilson said those discussions included what the party should stand for and how it should operate. She described the organization she wanted to help build as practical and fiscally responsible.

“My responsibility remains first and foremost to the people of Boundary-Similkameen,” Wilson said.

Her Sept. 14 announcement did not name the proposed party. Four days later, the merger release named eight MLAs, including Wilson, as members of the CentreBC caucus.

Milobar said Sept. 18 that CentreBC was preparing for the possibility of an early provincial election and that he expected more MLAs could join the party.

“Regardless of when the election is called, CentreBC will be prepared for the next general election,” Milobar said.

CentreBC was already a registered party

CentreBC was a registered provincial political party before the Sept. 18 merger.

The party publicly launched in April 2025 under former West Vancouver-Capilano MLA Karin Kirkpatrick. CentreBC said at the time that it had received formal approval from Elections BC earlier that month.

Kirkpatrick stepped down as leader at CentreBC’s first annual general meeting in June 2026. The party announced former Peace River South MLA and former education minister Mike Bernier as its new leader July 18.

Bernier remained the party’s announced leader until the Sept. 18 merger, when CentreBC said he would step down and Milobar would take over.

CentreBC has described itself as socially progressive and fiscally responsible, with priorities that include affordability, safety, economic growth and public services supported by a strong private sector.

Its registered status is also evident in the Abbotsford-Mission provincial byelection. Elections BC lists Lakhwinder Jhaj as the CentreBC candidate in the Sept. 26 vote, one of five candidates representing registered political parties.

Advance voting began Sept. 18 and continues through Sept. 23.

Elections BC lists the party’s registered name as Centre BC and its ballot name as CentreBC.

The Constitution Act sets a threshold of two or more members of the Legislative Assembly for a political organization to meet the legislative definition associated with a recognized political party. CentreBC’s Sept. 18 merger announcement identifies eight MLAs as members of its caucus, although current Legislative Assembly records had not yet been used to independently confirm an administrative update to their party affiliations.

Milobar moves from Conservative leadership contender to CentreBC

Milobar’s appointment comes less than four months after he competed for the leadership of the B.C. Conservatives.

He was one of the candidates in the party’s May 30 leadership contest, which Kerry-Lynne Findlay won on the fourth ballot.

On July 8, following a caucus meeting in Penticton, the Conservatives issued a statement saying the caucus was “more united than it has ever been” and that Conservative MLAs supported Findlay’s leadership. Milobar was specifically named in the statement.

A little more than a month later, on Aug. 14, Findlay announced that Milobar had informed her he would leave the Conservative caucus and sit as an Independent.

Wilson subsequently left the caucus as well. Her Sept. 14 statement said she could no longer support Findlay’s leadership and that leaving the Conservatives had not changed her political principles.

Wilson said she was joining the other MLAs because she believed they could build what she called a “credible alternative to the NDP.”

“I am not interested in rebuilding an old, failed party,” Wilson said. “British Columbia has changed.”

The Sept. 18 merger now places Wilson and the other MLAs named in the release within CentreBC, with the party announcing Milobar as its new leader.

Three more MLAs no longer in Conservative caucus

The CentreBC announcement came on the same day Findlay announced that three additional MLAs would no longer serve as members of the B.C. Conservative caucus.

Findlay said Sept. 18 that Trevor Halford, Claire Rattée and former party leader John Rustad would no longer be members of the caucus, effective immediately.

Her statement did not give individual reasons for the three changes. Findlay said the Conservatives were focused on preparing for an election and defeating the NDP government, adding that there was “no room for internal power struggles or vanity projects.”

Halford had previously served as interim Conservative leader, while Rustad led the party through the 2024 provincial election before resigning as leader in December 2025.

Rattée was still being identified by the Conservative Party as its critic for mental health, addictions and social housing in a party release issued Sept. 14.

Wilson was elected in Boundary-Similkameen as a B.C. Conservative in the October 2024 provincial election.

Four days after announcing that she was joining a group of MLAs attempting to build a new provincial party, she is now named as part of an eight-member CentreBC caucus. CentreBC was already registered with Elections BC and is fielding a candidate in the Abbotsford-Mission byelection.

The party’s Sept. 18 announcement names Milobar as its new leader, while Elections BC’s registered-party information dated Sept. 19 continues to list Bernier. The registry also confirms CentreBC’s existing status as a registered provincial political party.

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