BURSTThe petition to recall Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Dallas Brodie, leader of the OneBC Party, has failed to gather the necessary number of signatures by a wide margin.
For a petition to be successful, registered canvassers must collect signatures from 40 per cent or more of the 15,232 people who were eligible to vote in the Vancouver-Quilchena riding on Oct. 19, 2024.
The campaign to recall Brodie managed to gather just 3,663 signatures in a recall effort organized by riding resident Dorothy Cumming. It began on May 21 and had until July 20 to gather enough signatures. Black Press Media has reached out to Cumming for comment.
Brodie reacted by taunting her opponents.
“I didn’t lift a finger or spend a penny to oppose the recall, and they still failed miserably,” she told Black Press in a written statement. “They had over 110 canvassers and three organizations spending money against me, which I count as free advertising.”
Brodie went on to say she’d like to “thank” the recall organizers for creating more awareness of her campaign against the “reconciliation industry.”
If the campaign had been successful, Brodie would have been forced to vacate her seat in the legislature, and a byelection would need to be called within 90 days.
Since the current rules were enacted in 1995, 31 petitions have tried to remove a legislator, though none have been successful. The 1998 campaign to recall Parksville-Qualicum MLA Paul Reitsma did gather enough signatures, but he resigned before the petition was verified.
Brodie was elected in 2024 as a B.C. Conservative, but left the party after sparring with former Leader John Rustad over her social media posts and videos that questioned evidence of children’s graves at residential schools.
Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream MLA Tara Armstrong and Peace River North MLA Jordan Kealy left the party in solidarity with Brodie. Armstrong and Brodie then teamed up to form OneBC, but later split, leaving Brodie as the party’s sole MLA.
Armstrong is also the subject of a recall effort in her riding, but the petition has not yet been filed. Once the application is in place, canvassers have 60 days to gather the required number of signatures.