{"id":195017,"date":"2026-09-03T21:07:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T21:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/195017\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T21:07:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T21:07:24","slug":"b-c-mla-ian-paton-questioned-by-mounties-over-allegation-conservatives-offered-him-a-job-if-hed-step-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/195017\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C. MLA Ian Paton questioned by Mounties over allegation Conservatives offered him a job if he\u2019d step down"},"content":{"rendered":"

A former B.C. Conservative says he was questioned by Mounties Wednesday over his allegation that he was offered an inducement to give up his seat so leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay could run, an accusation Ms. Findlay rejected as being part of a baseless and escalating political attack.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay.CHAD HIPOLITO\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Ian Paton, who left caucus Aug. 24 and now represents Delta South as an independent, said he was interviewed by two Mounties for one hour at their Surrey headquarters on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told them that I got the phone call on June 30th, asking if I would step down for Kerry-Lynne, that there would be a job for me at the party level as an agriculture advisor and I would get paid the same remuneration I\u2019m getting as an MLA,\u201d Mr. Paton told The Globe and Mail in an interview.<\/p>\n

The police investigation and Ms. Findlay\u2019s denial come as two more sitting members of B.C.\u2019s Official Opposition \u2013 Donegal Wilson and Scott McInnis \u2013 quit the caucus<\/a>, bringing the total number of departures to nine since Aug. 14. Chris Delaney, Ms. Findlay\u2019s chief of staff, also resigned Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Since Ms. Findlay took over in May, the Conservatives have been rocked by a succession of controversies involving her inner circle, the departures of senior staff and a mass exodus of MLAs, all citing issues with her leadership. The turmoil unfolds as the embattled leader campaigns for her own seat in a Sept. 26 by-election.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are seeing is a co-ordinated political attack designed to sidetrack our campaign at the very moment we are taking our message directly to the people of Abbotsford-Mission,\u201d Ms. Findlay said in a media statement. She has not responded to interview requests from The Globe and Mail.<\/p>\n

Opinion: The shocking implosion of B.C.\u2019s Conservative Party<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Paton said he was approached to give up his seat by Mr. Delaney and that remuneration for the new job would be about $122,000. <\/p>\n

Mr. Paton said that he somewhat expected that Ms. Findlay would want his seat, given that she had previously served as an MP for Delta-Richmond East, which included the area now represented by Mr. Paton provincially, and that people might remember her. <\/p>\n

He was unaware that the offer could amount to a criminal offence until police called him in for questioning, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no idea that, you know, maybe I should have written things down or recorded the conversation,\u201d Mr. Paton said.<\/p>\n

It is illegal under the Criminal Code to offer a legislator any kind of reward, advantage or benefit to resign from office, punishable by up to five years imprisonment. <\/p>\n

Mr. Paton said he is aware of two other defectors who have been questioned by police for the same reason.<\/p>\n

Ms. Findlay rejected the allegations and said they were part of a co-ordinated political attack designed to derail her campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI categorically reject any suggestion that I engaged in illegal or unethical conduct,\u201d she said in a statement. <\/p>\n

An audio recording that circulated online last week captured Ms. Findlay telling caucus members that if an MLA were to give up their seat, \u201cI could give them a role as a senior advisor in their same portfolio.\u201d Mr. Paton, who was in attendance, confirmed the authenticity of the recording to The Globe. <\/p>\n

Ms. Findlay said in a social media post that while she was \u201cunable to determine authenticity\u201d of the recording, it contained \u201cnormal political discussions that respect the boundaries of the law and ethics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prince George-Valemount MLA Rosalyn Bird, who left the Conservative caucus on Aug. 25<\/a>, confirmed to The Globe that Ms. Findlay had asked her to give up her seat. She declined to comment on whether she had been questioned by police.<\/p>\n

Ms. Bird said she quit the party for several reasons, including staffing changes, a lack of communication and the recent allegations. (Operations director Apollo Chung was fired Aug. 26 after audio recordings circulated on X purportedly capturing a staffer plotting to monetize the office and fundraise \u201cso we can steal everything.\u201d Ms. Findlay gave no reason for his termination and has not confirmed the authenticity of the recordings.)<\/p>\n

Ms. Bird said she has serious concerns regarding the leadership and is saddened by what is happening to the party. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a movement a lot of people worked very hard to build [and] came very close to making government,\u201d she said. \u201cTo see it eroding at this point, with the challenges we have here in the province, is disappointing and a little scary, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

No reason was given for Mr. Delaney\u2019s resignation. Ms. Findlay on Wednesday named Reann Gasper \u2013 who had been serving as deputy chief of staff since vacating her seat as Abbotsford-Mission MLA to allow Ms. Findlay to run \u2013 as Mr. Delaney\u2019s replacement.<\/p>\n

Ms. Wilson, MLA for Boundary-Similkameen and Mr. McInnis, MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke became the latest members to leave the caucus, both cited issues with Ms. Findlay\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

Ms. Wilson said that, when Ms. Findlay became leader in late May, she promised herself she would give her three months to show caucus how she would lead. <\/p>\n

\u201cThree months later, I have my answer,\u201d Ms. Wilson said in a statement. \u201cI never imagined things could go this wrong, this quickly.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mr. McInnis, meanwhile, cited a litany of issues that have caused him growing concern, including the firing of competent and experienced staff, ethical questions involving Ms. Findlay\u2019s senior team, reported connections to Alberta separatism and matters that now involve the RCMP. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, the party has increasingly become an exclusive private club more concerned with ideological bona fides than building the broad coalition required to serve British Columbians and form government,\u201d Mr. McInnis said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A former B.C. Conservative says he was questioned by Mounties Wednesday over his allegation that he was offered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17,361],"class_list":["post-195017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-canada","tag-pleasemod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}