BC

The B.C. Conservatives have mailed out letters of expulsion or censure to 15 of its members, created a "unity committee" and now hope to move beyond the internal strife that has plagued the organization, says the party's president.

Following several meetings over the weekend, the party's board announced Monday it had mailed out the letters because of ongoing calls from dissidents for a review of John Cummins' leadership in contravention of a party bylaw.

Last week, several constituency association presidents, angered by Cummins' earlier ultimatum that they get in line with his leadership or leave the party, held their own press conference, saying contributions to the party would dry up if Cummins didn't quit.

Party president Al Siebring said the disciplinary letters would arrive Tuesday or Wednesday, but he wouldn't say how many letters were for expulsion and how many were for censure.

"That's between us and our members. That's an internal matter," he said, adding none of the 15 members have been notified in advance of the correspondences.

John Crocock, a party member who was among the first to go public with complaints about Cummins' leadership, said nobody knows what's going on because the decision to send out the letters was made during a closed meeting.