Yuri Fulmer, Caroline Elliott clash early during B.C. Conservative leadership contest

The five candidates for B.C. Conservative leader faced off in a debate Friday night.

VICTORIA — All five candidates running for the leadership of the Conservative Party of B.C. said during a debate in Vancouver on Friday that they would repeal the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. They also promised to revive the provincial economy and improve public safety.

But that might have been the extent of their agreements as the debate featured several feisty exchanges between the candidates.

Perhaps none were more testy than those between entrepreneur Yuri Fulmer and commentator Caroline Elliott, who clashed several times over past statements and actions during the first debate among the remaining leadership candidates.

Former Liberal cabinet minister Iain Black, former MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay and current MLA Peter Milobar also took part in the event hosted by the Canada Strong and Free Network conference, as the party chooses a new leader to replace John Rustad, who left amid a caucus revolt in December.

But it was Fulmer and Elliott, who drew most of the attention by attacking each other early and often.

Both tried to bolster their conservative credentials by using the debate to announce major policy initiatives.

Fulmer said a future government under his leadership would “cease the voluntary transfer of land and money to Indigenous communities” in B.C., “so that the playing field to negotiate is level.”

Elliott, meanwhile, said in her closing statement that she would “pull the NDP ideology out by its roots,” promising sweeping changes in education and other social policy areas.

“The NDP government and some on this stage are afraid, ashamed of our past, and they use that shame to define our future,” she said. “They call us settlers and colonizers and uninvited guests in our own home.”

All of that will stop, she said.

But if the candidates criticized various NDP policies, they also fired at each other.

Fulmer said Elliott has been hostile toward social conservatives and criticized her for skipping out on a debate hosted by a news site, which Premier David Eby later criticized for promoting white supremacy.

The entrepreneur said the NDP has also endorsed Elliott’s position on social issues like sexual orientation and gender identity.

“(Eby) has both endorsed you and commended you for backing out of the last debate,” Fulmer said. “How do you feel about being David Eby’s choice?”

Elliott dismissed Fulmer’s attacks.

“You should really stop getting your information from NDP press releases,” she said in response. “That is how I would answer that question.”

She added that she welcomes social conservatives and Christian values in the party.

Elliott accused Fulmer of abandoning conservative values.

“So in business, you plastered your website with land acknowledgments, and then scrubbed them, when you joined this race as a Conservative candidate,” she said.

“As chancellor of Capilano University, you endorsed (diversity, equity and inclusion), decolonization, and called yourself and your students guilty settlers on stolen land,” she said. “How can you stand up for B.C. if you share the NDP’s view that B.C. is illegitimate?”

The sharp exchanges between Fulmer and Elliott were accentuated by the organizers’ decision to place them side by side onstage.

The clashes during the early phase of the debate were not lost on the other candidates, including Black.

“I really think we have to remind ourselves that the real enemy is the NDP,” Black said. “I admire the spirit, the nature of how we started, but I really do believe that if we get too far down this path, we are going to be offering news clips that are going to bite in the backside in the months to come.”

Looming behind the exchanges were broader questions about the party’s ideological direction.

Black said the party can wrap a message of hope and optimism around existing conservative principles. They include the right to private property and the idea that individuals can make better choices about their money than the government, Black added.

“We don’t have to compromise one little bit,” he said. “What we are missing is a narrative and a welcome mat, so that voters will come to us and people who have not thought of being Conservative.”

Findlay disagreed, pointing to the implosion of BC United under the leadership of Kevin Falcon, Elliott’s brother-in-law, saying the party had lost the trust of British Columbians.

“The last time I heard someone say that we need to moderate to win was Kevin Falcon,” she said. “When Kevin Falcon led that party, that (Elliott) and (Milobar) were part of, they brought in SOGI, DRIPA, safe supply, decriminalization of hard drugs, and they condemned the Freedom Convoy. You remember that?”

Findlay, meanwhile, criticized Fulmer for having struck a deal with OneBC that would see that party run unopposed in five ridings and support a future government under Fulmer, if he were to win the leadership but not a majority of seats.

“You have capitulated five seats,” Findlay said. “Voters are looking for a fighter, a champion, not a compromiser.”

She later added that she is the only candidate who can speak up for “grassroots” British Columbians and those “who have had enough of being pushed around by big government, big corporations, global world elites and Doug Ford operatives,” in taking a swipe at members of Elliott’s campaign team.

Fulmer repeatedly defended his deal with OneBC’s leader, Dallas Brodie, saying he would rather have five legislature members from that party than 50 from the NDP.

“I have a plan to unite the right,” he said. “It’s written on a piece of paper, and it’s signed, sealed and delivered, and it will guarantee us victory. While Dallas Brodie endorses me as a Conservative, David Eby has endorsed Caroline. That’s all you need to know here.”

Milobar also questioned Fulmer’s accord with OneBC, while stressing his record in the legislature and past electoral successes.

“My experience as a small-business owner, a city councillor, a mayor (of Kamloops) and an MLA and unbeaten track record of eight won general elections has set the stage for me to be able to lead B.C. and get B.C. headed back in the right direction after a decade of NDP disastrous policy after disastrous policy.”

Milobar, however, also faced criticism from Elliott for being the only person on the stage who voted for DRIPA, along with other pieces of legislation, while a member of the B.C. Liberals, then BC United. “The first thing our government will do is repeal the bills you voted for,” she said.

Milobar responded by saying that his previous parties heavily questioned most of the laws that Elliott criticized.

As for DRIPA, Milobar conceded that B.C. Liberals took the government “perhaps unwisely” at its word about the law’s ramifications in an effort to move the economy forward. “I’m the only person this race with a seat in the legislature, and I push back daily on the NDP on all of those issues, as do all of my (MLA) colleagues, some of which are here today.”

Leadership ballots are set to be sent out starting May 9, with the new leader to be announced at a convention scheduled for May 30.

This report by Wolfgang Depner of The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2026.