Teresa Wat becomes sixth legislator to join new party of former B.C. Conservatives

VICTORIA – The newest member of a still-unnamed party acknowledged she and five other former provincial Conservative legislators are in for the “long-haul” if they want to throw out British Columbia’s NDP government, while urging others to join them.

Teresa Wat became the sixth member of the new party co-founded by former Opposition finance critic Peter Milobar, another B.C. Conservative defector, saying Friday that his experience and competency were factors in her decision.

The legislator from Richmond, B.C., said she was asking anyone right-of-centre who wanted to defeat Premier David Eby’s New Democrats to follow her.

“Our common enemy is the NDP,” she said in an interview Friday.

Milobar, who is serving as the interim leader of the new party, welcomed Wat to its ranks, saying there was a “clear appetite” for its brand of right-of-centre politics.

He said Wat’s decision showed there was momentum behind the new outfit, which will have the third-largest caucus in the provincial legislature after the NDP and the Conservatives when sitting resumes next month.

“Our team is growing, because there is a clear appetite for a serious alternative to the NDP,” Milobar said in a statement.

“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.”

The new party’s members are all among nine legislators who have quit the Conservative caucus in recent weeks, citing a range of concerns about party leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay.

Milobar, a former B.C. Conservative leadership candidate, was the first to leave last month, followed by Ian Paton. They announced they would form a new party that grew last week to include Rosalyn Bird, Bruce Banman and A’a:liya Warbus.

Wat said in the initial statement announcing her move that she joined because she believes the new party can unite people and unseat the governing New Democrats.

“British Columbians want a strong, credible alternative to the NDP that is focused on affordability, competent government,” she said.

Wat’s move comes ahead of a Sept. 26 byelection that will determine whether Findlay will have a seat in the legislature as the MLA for Abbotsford-Mission.

The Richmond MLA announced her decision to leave the Conservatives on Aug. 26.

Wat said at the time that Findlay had failed to apologize over “serious and unfounded accusations” that questioned her allegiance to Canada. Remarks attributed to Findlay called Wat “CCP,” a reference to the Chinese Communist Party.

Findlay later said she had a private conversation with Wat and apologized directly.

The leader’s statement also called Wat’s decision to leave the caucus a “betrayal of the hardworking volunteers, campaign workers and voters,” who helped her get elected as a Conservative in 2024.

Wat was first elected to the legislature as a member of the former provincial Liberal Party in 2013.

Some of Findlay’s critics have said she is driving the Conservatives further to the right after her narrow win in the leadership ballot in May.

Banman has called Findlay “unelectable” and levelled scathing criticism about the direction of the party under her leadership, calling out those around her for creating a “purity test” of whether legislators were “hard right enough.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2026.