RCMP ask to meet ex-B.C. Conservative who says he was offered job to quit as MLA

British Columbia legislator Ian Paton says RCMP have asked to interview him on Wednesday, and expects them to ask about allegedly being offered a job to give up his seat so Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay could run.

Paton, who quit the Conservative caucus last week among an exodus of MLAs from the official Opposition, says Findlay’s chief of staff Chris Delaney asked him in July to step down in Delta South, saying he would be given a job as an adviser for two years with the same salary as an MLA. 

Paton rejected the offer but says he thought it was a “fairly common” practice, and it was only later he realized it was an offence to offer remuneration to get a legislator to resign.

He says police will visit him Wednesday morning and he believes two other Conservatives have been speaking to the RCMP in recent days.

Findlay, who won the party’s leadership in May but does not have a seat, will be running in a byelection this month in Abbotsford-Mission, vacated by Reann Gasper, who has been appointed Findlay’s deputy chief of staff.

Findlay has denied offering jobs in exchange for resignations, saying suggestions that a recording released online shows she illegally did so, are “preposterous.” 

It is illegal under the Criminal Code to negotiate a reward or benefit related to resignation from political office. 

RCMP said last week they were aware of the purported recording of Findlay addressing Conservative legislators, but “does not confirm or deny any investigation, or the identity of any person who may be subject to an investigation, until such time as charges have been laid.”

Seven MLAs have left the Conservative ranks this month, in an exodus since Findlay narrowly won the party’s leadership. 

Some have cited ideological and strategy differences, with Bruce Banman saying on Monday that Findlay had surrounded herself with people concerned about whether MLAs are “hard right enough.” 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 1, 2026.

By Ashley Joannou | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.