OneBC Threat Claim Shakes B.C. Right Before Oct. 24 Vote
OneBC says former B.C. Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay and her husband Brent Chapman were subjected to threats and abuse from insiders.
The claim was reported on Oct. 6, 2026, ahead of the Oct. 24 election. The Globe and Mail
Chapman had announced he would join OneBC to run as a candidate in that vote. He is now out. OneBC stated that the party and Chapman mutually decided he would not run in Surrey South.
His name was not on the final list of candidates released by Elections BC on Sunday. That list fixes the field for administrators, scrutineers and ballot printing. Scrutineers are volunteers who observe the count for candidates. The Globe and Mail
Findlay resigned as Conservative leader amid a caucus revolt, when a party's elected members withdraw support from the leader. She lasted under four months after winning the party leadership in the spring. Her resignation came days before NDP Leader David Eby called the snap election, an election called earlier than scheduled.
The order of events was a leadership win in the spring, a caucus break, a resignation, the call for an Oct. 24 vote, Chapman's move to a new partisan home, then the mutual decision not to run.
OneBC's interim leader is former Conservative legislator Dallas Brodie. Chapman chose OneBC after Findlay's exit from the Conservatives. OneBC is now the source of the allegation about threats and abuse.
A Canadian Press report, carried by CTV News Vancouver and other outlets on Oct. 6, attributes the allegation to a OneBC statement. The statement referred to Findlay and Chapman together. It did not, in the material reported, specify charges, complaints to police, or further particulars. CTV News
Background coverage had already framed Findlay's tenure as brief and unsettled. The Vancouver Sun published a Sept. 21 account titled 'Behind Kerry-Lynne Findlay's exit as B.C. Conservative leader' about her ouster after four turbulent months. Vancouver Sun
The broader context here is ballot control under writ conditions, the formal campaign period after an election is called. Once Elections BC publishes its final list, campaigns stop debating possible candidacies and work with the names on the page. A late mutual decision not to run avoids a nomination fight but leaves no room to substitute in that riding.
In my view, practitioners will read this less as a single riding story and more as a test of splinter-party viability, whether a breakaway party can stay organized. OneBC must recruit, vet and defend candidates while also explaining in public the circumstances of the Conservative split. The Conservatives must hold caucus discipline and local organization through polling day without the leader who fought the pre-writ period.
Looking at what this means for the Surrey South contest and the wider campaign, the immediate questions are administrative. Who carries the OneBC banner, if anyone, where Chapman withdrew. How Conservative campaign headquarters handles volunteer and donor networks tied to the former leader's circle. And whether the threat allegation produces any formal process or remains a partisan statement in the campaign record.
