In a shocking shake-up of B.C. politics, Conservative leader John Rustad has lost three of his MLAs in a single day, exposing a political firestorm within the party.

The first to exit was Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Dallas Brodie, who was serving as the party’s attorney general critic. Rustad expelled Brodie after she continued to demand factual accuracy in B.C.'s legal system regarding the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc band’s widely publicized but false claim to have discovered "the remains of 215 children who were students of the Kamloops Indian Residential School" in unmarked graves in 2021.

Brodie first fell under intense fire from state media, NDP MLAs, and even some within her own caucus after she posted on X that "zero bodies" had been discovered at the Kamloops site and that "no one should be afraid of the truth."

"Not lawyers, their governing bodies, or anyone else,” Brodie wrote. 

Her ousting came just a few days after she formally called on B.C.'s NDP-appointed Attorney General Niki Sharma and the Law Society of B.C. to correct falsehoods in mandatory lawyer training — misinformation that has led to legal professionals, including a Supreme Court Judge, being smeared as "residential school deniers" simply for truthfully stating that no bodies have been found.

Her push for the truth was in response to B.C. criminal defence lawyer Jim Heller’s libel suit against the Law Society of B.C. after he was defamed as a racist "residential school denier” for urging the legal body to correct the record.

"Last year, Victoria-based lawyer Jim Heller brought a member's resolution asking the Law Society to correct mandatory Indigenous course materials, which falsely stated that the soil anomalies at the Kamloops Indian Residential School site were confirmed burials," both of Brodie’s letters read.

"As you know, no such burial site has been confirmed," she continued.

Brodie then urged NDP-appointed Attorney General Niki Sharma and the Law Society to join her "and the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Nation by acknowledging that none of the soil anomalies identified by ground-penetrating radar at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School site have been confirmed or proven to be burial sites."

"If we allow the Law Society's indefensible attack on the reputation of Mr. Heller to go unchallenged, what message will it send to lawyers and judges who regularly engage in sensitive fact-finding inquiries?" she asked.

In a statement to Rebel News, Heller called Brodie’s letters to the Attorney General and Law Society "blasts of fresh air in a cloistered, gas-lit environment."

"Simply asking for truth, honesty, facts, and candour only seems radical to people who've lost touch with themselves," he said. "Truth is something we supposedly search for. And lawyers, of all people, are trained to do that. What purpose is there in a legal system that forgets these fundamentals and indulges in ideological narratives instead?"

B.C. Conservative House Leader A’aliyah Warbus, who is Indigenous, and Elenore Sturko, a former B.C. United MLA who crossed the floor to the Conservatives just before the election, parroted NDP talking points on the matter, claiming that Brodie's focus on "one word" — "discovered" vs. "probable" — was "harmful."

Just a few hours after the duo made such statements to the media, Rustad announced his decision to expel Brodie, claiming she had "mocked and belittled testimony from former residential school students" and was therefore no longer welcome in the party.

The "mocking" allegations stemmed from an out-of-context clip, circulated mostly by NDP MLAs, in which Brodie — rejecting the idea that truth is subjective — used a whiny voice to mimic the claim that facts don't matter and that "your truth" and "grandmother's truth" do instead. In a statement, Rustad claims to have viewed that moment differently, going as far as to accuse Brodie of personally attacking those who suffered sexual abuse at residential schools.

"I want to be clear — this has nothing to do with whether or not there are undiscovered remains at Kamloops Indian Residential School, where it is objectively true that no new bodies have been found
This is about an elected MLA using her position of authority to mock testimony of survivors of abuse, including child sex abuse," he stated.

Rustad also claimed that Brodie challenged the Conservative Party of B.C. caucus, in an inner caucus meeting, 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 B.C. caucus room. He offered no description of what led up to such tensions before Brodie's decision to walk out of the room.

Shortly after Brodie's expulsion was announced, two MLAs took to social media to announce their resignations — Peace River North MLA Jordan Kealy and Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream MLA Tara Armstrong —both of whom accused Rustad of betraying conservative values in a desperate bid for political approval.

In a scathing statement, Armstrong blasted Rustad as corrupt and accused him of abandoning the truth. "British Columbia voted for me and other BC Conservative MLAs because we promised to stand up for them and for what is right, no matter the cost," she wrote. "No one was surprised when David Eby attacked Dallas Brodie for telling the truth about Kamloops. But John Rustad's cowardly decision to stab her in the back revealed just how corrupt he has become."

"Under his leadership, one compromise after another has transformed that party into something I no longer recognize," she added.

Kealy, meanwhile, exposed more of the party’s internal dysfunction, describing the B.C. Conservative party as a place where "bullying" and "backroom deals" have taken over. "On Thursday, I witnessed firsthand just how toxic the BC Conservative Party has become," he said. "Some of the worst bullies sit in the legislature, and the BC Conservatives are no exception. I stood up for a fellow MLA who was harassed for speaking the truth, only to become a target myself. The party has created an environment where some so-called 'Conservatives' would rather throw cheap insults than deal with facts."

"There were no apologies, no accountability, and I refuse to stand with those who either enable or ignore that kind of behaviour. I'm a real conservative, and I don’t believe anyone should be bullied — no matter their background, beliefs, race, sexual orientation, or abilities. Bullies have no place in leadership. The BC Conservatives have turned into 'Liberal United Conservative 2.0' — different name, same backroom games."

Kealy has also hinted that more MLAs may soon follow their lead. In a statement to Rebel News following his announcement, the MLA hinted that more MLAs may follow suit and discussed upcoming plans of what could become a new provincial party.

"On Monday, we will go to the Speaker’s office and be set up as independents. If there are more than two of us, we will be able to form an official party," he said. "We were elected to represent our constituencies and to represent them in the party — to win and beat the NDP. But when it's this toxic, at what point do you allow your soul to be sacrificed and your morals to be compromised? Or do you actually turn things around and say things have to change?"

Rustad's purge of Brodie was quickly praised by B.C.'s NDP Attorney General Niki Sharma, the same MLA Brodie called on for help with clearing the misinformation from the law society.

"Although he tolerated Brodie's behaviour for far too long, it is a relief to see John Rustad finally act," Sharma wrote.

Sharma, who is no stranger to identity politics, as demonstrated by her celebration of the introduction of an "anti-racism committee" that excludes "non-radicalized" opinions, aka white people, continued with her pat on Rustad’s back, saying, "We disagree with John Rustad on many things. But it's encouraging that we do agree that Dallas Brodie's hurtful comments should have no place in our respective political parties."

Brodie took to X to stand firm in her actions. "I spoke the truth because it matters. I will never back down from it. It is an indisputable fact that the number of bodies discovered at Kamloops is zero. The truth is a threat to powerful vested interests in the multi-billion-dollar reconciliation industry."

"Politicians like David Eby and John Rustad are willing to sell off British Columbia's wealth and power, transferring it from the public to an elite racial minority — enriching opportunistic lawyers, consultants, and chiefs along the way. We will stop them. We will fight for a British Columbia that serves us all. And we will do it by speaking one true word at a time. Join me in the fight for truth and the future of all British Columbians."