OneBC Party in Turmoil as Party Executives Say Leader Brodie Ousted, She Denies

The two-MLA OneBC party is in upheaval as leader Dallas Brodie insists she remains in charge, while the party’s board and MLA Tara Armstrong say she has been ousted, with both sides airing their dispute publicly.

OneBC was designated an official party in June after Brodie was ejected from the B.C. Conservative caucus. Brodie took on the role of party leader while Armstrong was the party’s House leader.

The party announced Brodie had been removed as leader in a Dec. 14 statement, alleging she mistreated employees, fired staff without notice, and attempted to access internal party data without authorization. Brodie, for her part, says she acted appropriately given the circumstances, and that party staff had acted without her authorization to remove a different staff member.

Armstrong confirmed her position Dec. 14 on X, writing that she will no longer caucus with Brodie.

“Due to my loss of confidence in Ms. Brodie and her removal as OneBC’s party leader, I will not be caucusing with her, and will be writing to the Speaker to advise him of that,” Armstrong wrote. “After days of silence by the leader, and the sudden removal of the very people who helped build OneBC – without conversation, explanation, or accountability, I was left with a profound sense of sadness and disbelief.”

Armstrong said that the “unauthorized data breach” was acknowledged to her in writing and crossed a red line for her.

Brodie defended her position in a Dec. 14 social media post.

She said she uncovered new information about online and offline perspectives being shared by a party contractor last week that she found inappropriate. That, in addition to existing disagreements she had with him, led her to demand he be removed from any position with her caucus and the party, she said.

However, Brodie said when she tried to terminate the contractor she was undermined by former chief of staff Tim Thielmann and interim director Paul Ratchford. She said, instead, Thielmann fired a different member of the team for also voicing concerns about the contractor Brodie had let go. That contractor was later revealed to be American political consultant Othman Mekhloufi.

“After the wrongful termination of the other team member and in light of new information about Othman’s activities that was shared with the executive team, I sent a written demand that OM be removed from any position with my caucus and the party,” Brodie posted Dec. 14 on X.

Brodie referenced the issue in a social media post on Dec. 13, where she said that despite “a little turbulence” at the moment the party will continue forward.

A spokesperson for Mekhloufi’s consulting firm rejected Brodie’s comments about him in a Dec. 22 statement to The Epoch Times. For Mekhloufi’s part, he wished Brodie “well in her future endeavours.”

Staff Weigh In

OneBC communications and policy advisor Wyatt Claypool told the Epoch Times that Brodie is still leader and said he expects the party to be able to recover from the split.

“I think this was all just a move out of spite, to hold us up,” he said in a Dec. 15 phone interview.

Claypool said on X that Brodie “was being undermined and bullied for months and finally stood up against it and then in retaliation those responsible for the toxicity blew up the party, proving how toxic they are.”

Thielmann shared a different perspective on X, saying Brodie’s allegations were “simply false.”

He alleged that Brodie yelled at Mekhloufi as well as other staff and was annoyed that he was “not sufficiently deferential to her.”

Thielmann said he and Ratchford had asked her to treat staff better and not to fire Mekhloufi.

Mike Harris, who had put himself forward as a OneBC candidate for the Langford-Highlands riding, announced he was withdrawing his candidacy as a result of the “soap opera” going on in the party.

“I’ve been watching the OneBC situation and I’m out. I didn’t sign up for this soap opera,” Harris posted Dec. 14 on X. “No hard feelings for the people. This is just not who I am.”

Parties require at least two elected members in order to get official party status in the B.C. legislature.

The turmoil in OneBC comes two weeks after John Rustad’s resignation as leader of the B.C. Conservatives.

Brodie and Armstrong didn’t respond to a request for comment by publication time.

Editor’s note: This article was updated on Dec. 22 after receiving comments from Othman Mekhloufi.