Kamloops-Centre MLA Peter Milobar has sights set on B.C. Conservative leadership

Milobar talks leadership bid

Photo: KTW file photo

The B.C. Conservatives finance critic and Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar.

The time is right for Peter Milobar.

The longtime Kamloops MLA and the city’s longest serving mayor is taking his shot at being the next leader of the B.C. Conservatives, with sights set even further ahead at being the 38th premier of the province.

“They say timing is everything in politics,” the Kamloops-Centre MLA told Castanet Kamloops.

Milobar and nine others are currently vying to replace John Rustad as leader of the Official Opposition in B.C. following the former leader’s ouster this past December following a party revolt.

Some 20 MLAs, including Milobar, signed a letter that month saying they lost confidence in Rustad’s leadership. Milobar said his aim at the top job now is just an extension of the work he’d be doing if Rustad was still heading the B.C. Conservatives.

“This is just continuing that work on, just trying to seek doing it in a different role, that being the leadership, and providing that guidance and direction for caucus, the broader membership, and then the public to get behind in a general election,” Milobar said.

Milobar said he’s leaning on his “depth of experience” in politics to make his case to party members as to why he should be the next leader of the party, noting his 24 years spread between municipal and provincial politics have given him insight into how the political sphere works.

If elected, the 55-year-old Kamloops resident becomes leader, and possibly premier, he said it will be a balancing act between provincial properties and priorities for Kamloops.

He also said Kamloops would still have strong representation from his colleague Ward Stamer, who is the MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson.

As for what a leadership win would mean for items like the Red Bridge replacement and a PET/CT scanner in the under construction Kamloops cancer centre, Milobar said he would continue to want to see those projects happen.

“The government has a lot of infrastructure money that they're just not getting value for money [for] across this province,” Milobar said.

“It’s about getting projects [across the province] starting to be delivered on time and on budget, so that we do have the money available to build things like the [Red] Bridge that needs to be replaced immediately, and then we can bring some logic to the PET/CT scan debate in Kamloops.”

Confident in relationships

When it comes to uniting the party, Milobar said he doesn’t feel the caucus has been given a “fair shake” and feels he has a good relationship with all of them that will win everyone over.

“I'm confident that, should I be successful, whether they supported me in the leadership race or not, that they will get behind that result,” Milobar said.

The former BC Liberal/BC United jumped shipped to the Conservatives ahead of the 2024 provincial election, and there’s been concerns raised of the former right-of-centre party taking over the party, as many in the leadership race are former members like Milobar.

Milobar told Castanet he’s not too concerned about people in the party who may think he represents a hijcking of the party, noting he feels a lot of that sentiment is just postering by other candidates and their supporters in the race.

“The reality is there was only about 500 B.C. Conservative members a couple years ago. So before that, the right of centre voting option was the BC Liberals,” he said.

Milobar said he feels that as time goes on people in the party will see there is more that they agree on than not and be able to express a wide range of thoughts and beliefs at the same time.

Five MLAs were kicked out of or resigned from the party under Rustad following the election, including Dallas Brodie and Tara Armstrong who were booted over their views of denialism over the residential school system.

Milobar, who’s wife and three grown children are Indigenous, spoke out against Bridie and Armstrong at the time.

Asked what his red line would be for his MLA’s rhetoric, Milobar said it has to be taken on a case by case basis with equal standards for all.

“I think it's pretty clear, I don't stand for hate speech. I don't stand for that at all — racism and things like that, Milobar said.

Focus on core issues

Milobar is joined by fellow MLAs Sheldon Care, Bruce Banman and Steve Kooner as well as entrepreneur Yuri Fulmer, former grocery executive Darrell Jones, former B.C. Liberal cabinet minister Iain Black, former MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay, commentator Caroline Elliott, and contractor Warren Hamm in the race.

Milobar said he feels his experience level and electoral success separate him from the rest of the pack.

“In terms of who do I see as my competition, or not? I see everyone in the races my competition. It’s the ranked ballot, you never know who will ignite the attention of the broader membership,” Milobar said.

Milobar said he wants the party to focus on “big priority issues” such as health care, crime and safety, affordability, educational standards and the impact of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) on private property rights.

“I think any Premier or any cabinet should be laser focused on those main areas,” Milobar said.

“I think we as the caucus and as a party need to be, you know, really dialled in on those core areas.”

Milobar said he would assemble a cabinet and senior leadership that could maintain focus on those core issues and move the files forward. He said the first things he would do is correct legislation where he feels the current NDP government erred and take immediate action to improve affordability.

Milobar has already come out against DRIPA, saying it’s caused uncertainty on private property rights and that he would replace it with a "Reconciliation Transparency Act” to be crafted based upon the judgements of previous Supreme Court of Canada rulings on timelines and frameworks for Indigenous consultation on major projects.

As for other concrete actions he would like to implement, Milobar said he’s saving that for later.

“Some of that stuff I'll roll out throughout the leadership race. Right now it's about talking about concept,” he said. “This is a marathon, not a sprint, so the more detailed policy on some of those areas I'll be pushing out in due time.”

The B.C. Conservatives will choose their next leader on May 30.

— with a file from Rob Shaw