Most CentreBC MLAs rejoin Conservatives as snap provincial election called

Seven legislators from the breakaway CentreBC party are rejoining the official Opposition B.C. Conservatives after NDP Leader David Eby called an early election for Oct. 24.

Eleanor Sturko says she is the sole CentreBC member who is not rejoining the Conservatives, who say interim leader Lorne Doerkson and CentreBC’s leader Peter Milobar “have come together to give British Columbians a viable governing alternative.”

The Conservatives say the election is “cynical” and not what British Columbians want, but it offers the province a hope for change.

The seven CentreBC legislators who are returning to the Conservative fold all resigned or were kicked out of the main Opposition caucus by former leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay, who quit on Sunday.

But Sturko, who was ejected last year by former Conservative leader John Rustad, says she can’t go back to a party that previously supported the repeal of the human rights code.

Eby is framing the snap election as an urgent necessity to respond to the threat posed by U.S. President Donald Trump and his trade war, calling it an “existential moment” for the province