British Columbia Conservative Party Leader John Rustad has ejected his attorney general critic, Dallas Brodie, from the Opposition caucus, citing comments he says “mock and belittle” Residential School survivors.
“MLA Dallas Brodie challenged the Conservative Party of BC caucus to fire her – including by asking Conservative MLAs to have a vote on removing her – and made the decision to walk out of the Conservative Party of BC caucus room,” said Conservative leader John Rustad in a statement issued on Friday afternoon.
“As a result of her decision to publicly mock and belittle testimony from former Residential School students, including by mimicking individuals recounting stories of abuses – including child sex abuse, MLA Brodie is not welcome to return to our Conservative Party of BC Caucus,” added Rustad.
This is the culmination of a dispute between Brodie and Rustad that dated back to last month, when he first asked her to remove an online post.
“I believe strongly in free speech – however, using your stature and platform as an MLA to mock testimony from victims alleging abuse, including child sex abuse, is where I draw the line,” stated Rustad.
Brodie’s is rooted in a social media post in which she stated that “zero” child burials had been confirmed at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.
Broadie, a former defense lawyer, made the post as a public defense of a lawyer who is now suing the BC Law Society in a dispute centered around the language used in the Society’s training materials.
While the in-fighting seemed to have died down, at least publicly, it then resurfaced on Thursday as part of a video conversation which later appeared on social media.
In it, she states her position on the dispute between lawyer James Heller and the Law Society of BC, as well as her intention at the time to put forward a letter to BC Attorney General Niki Sharma, [since posted online (1), (2)] saying “it was required of me, in my office [as opposition AG critic] to call this out.”
She goes on to claim that she was given “clearance” from the head of communications for the BC Conservative Party to go forward with her criticism of the Law Society online.
Dallas Brodie speaks publicly for the first time, saying she’s “worried for Canada if truth is not its basis.” pic.twitter.com/TeeTz2OVWJ
— Jim McMurtry (@JimMcMurtry01) March 3, 2025
Broadie goes on to contend she’s been given almost unanimous support for her stand from people across the country.
“They’re running at about 99% ‘Thank You’s,” states Broadie. “We’re not talking about, even 70/30, 60/40. Nothing like that. Not even close,” says Broadie in the video.
“The most vociferous hatred, or anger, I received has been from within my own Party.”
Broadie would then go on to seemingly concede that she had little knowledge of the inner working of her caucus structure and hierarchy.
“I guess there’s a person in our party, and she’s Indigenous,” stated Brodie, in reference to A’aliya Warbus, the BC Conservative’s House Leader. “She was super angry, and went to town, and joined the NDP to call me out.”
Just hours after being ejected from the BC Conservative caucus, Brodie would stick to her position on the language over the Residential School dispute by issuing a post on social media:
Tweet issued at around 3pm on Friday, March 7, after Broadie was dismissed from the BC Conservative caucus/via X
Her dismissal has since drawn a response and rebuke from BC Conservative leader John Rustad.
“Your departure from caucus was based on your choice to go on a podcast & mock victims of molestation & abuse from Residential Schools telling their stories/truths as you put it,” stated Rustad in a post on X.
As the once-internal spat continued to devolve publicly on Friday afternoon, the NDP would issue its own statement in response to Broadie’s expulsion from the BC Conservative caucus.
Statement issued by the NDP in response to the expulsion of Dallas Broadie from the BC Conservative ranks/via BC NDP
