The five B.C. Conservative MLAs who voted against the B.C. NDP’s motion to condemn U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats have been labelled “pro-Trumper’s who walked into a political trap, that exposes a rift within their party.”

But is that true?

During the B.C. Conservatives' annual general meeting, which took place in Nanaimo this past weekend, I caught up with three of the “Fab Five” in question —Chilliwack North MLA Heather Maahs, Peace River North MLA Jordan Kealy, and Surrey South MLA Brent Chapman to get their side of the story about why they rejected the motion brought forward by NDP MLA Jennifer Blatherwick.

“It really was a double-edged sword,” Kealy told Rebel News at the AGM.

“In that motion, they wanted us to propose putting more tariffs in place, and right now tariffs are the last thing that we want,” the Peace River North MLA continued. “They make our cost of living more expensive, and we should be looking at what would be best for our people that we represent in British Columbia.”

Like Kealy, caucus colleagues Heather Maahs and Brent Chapman felt the decision to vote against the motion wasn’t about loyalty to Trump nor was it to show support for the tariffs; instead, they say it was about protecting British Columbians from higher costs and consequences from the economic war.

As for headlines suggesting the Fab Five — which, in addition Kealy, Maahs and Chapman, includes Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream MLA Tara Armstrong and Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Dallas Brodie — choosing to vote “no” exposed a weakness in John Rustad's leadership, the B.C. Conservative leader sees things differently.

“I actually think it’s a real strength as a party. No other political party does this,” Rustad told Rebel News. “We have free votes. It is OK to have differences, it is OK to have people who stand up and vote on their conscience and based on their riding.”

Since the AGM, President Trump has moved forward with imposing tariffs of 25% on Canadian goods and 10% on oil and gas, warning that those figures could rise if Canada retaliates.

While Premier David Eby and his allies continue to push for a retaliatory stance, such as removing alcohol produced in Republican states from B.C. liquor stores, the B.C. Conservatives have repeatedly advocated for de-escalation measures that would include taking a harder stance at preventing illegal drug flowing from our borders.

Trump’s February 1 executive order, “Imposing Duties to Address the Flow of Illicit Drugs Across Our Northern Border,” specifically named British Columbia as a key culprit in fentanyl trafficking due to lax border control. The order cited a study from Canada’s Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre, which exposed the province's growing role in international narcotics distribution.

“Canada's Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre recently published a study on the laundering of proceeds of illicit synthetic opioids, which recognized Canada's heightened domestic production of fentanyl, largely from British Columbia, and its growing footprint within international narcotics distribution.”

Shortly after the EO was released, leaked B.C. government documents revealed that the BC NDP — despite overseeing the province with the highest overdose rates in the country — knew that taxpayer-funded opioids from its so-called “safer supply” experiment… I mean… programs... were being diverted into the hands of drug traffickers and, in some cases, vulnerable youth.

Prior to the AGM, MLA Tara Armstrong, took to X to push back on Eby’s eagerness to retaliate when he suggested Canadians should boycott travel to the US.

Instead, the MLA suggested that citizens urge the premier to “consider his weak leadership & ideological policies that brought the tariff threat upon us in the first place! His inflammatory rhetoric will do nothing except cause further harm. This is NOT Canada First!”

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