B.C. Politics · Election 2026
Brent Chapman joins OneBC as B.C. election campaign begins
Surrey South’s incumbent is moving to Dallas Brodie’s party as British Columbia heads to an October 24 election. His departure is confirmed; claims of a wider membership surge remain unquantified.
Brent Chapman announced September 22 that he is leaving the B.C. Conservatives to join OneBC, giving Dallas Brodie a second incumbent to take into the provincial election campaign.
OneBC welcomed the Surrey South representative in a dated release shared by Brodie on Facebook. The move was independently reported by Peace Arch News, whose reporter Tricia Leslie also spoke with Chapman by phone.
The announcement is a concrete addition to OneBC’s team, rather than simply another appeal for dissatisfied Conservatives to switch parties. It arrives as other legislators return to the Conservative fold under interim leader Lorne Doerkson—and as the province’s political contest moves from election speculation to an actual campaign.
Why Chapman says he is leaving
In his statement, quoted by Peace Arch News, Chapman said disagreements had emerged over Conservative principles and the platform on which members ran. He told the newspaper that the party had changed from the one he originally joined.
Chapman also described the recent leadership turmoil as personal, referring to the treatment of his wife, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, who resigned as Conservative leader on September 20. That is his explanation for the move, not an independent finding about the motives of everyone involved in the dispute.
OneBC’s September 22 release says Chapman will join Brodie’s team and represent Surrey South under its banner. Brodie welcomed him “with open arms.” Her separate X post also welcomed Chapman and claimed the party’s membership was surging.
One new incumbent is not a province-wide membership count
Chapman’s move supports the narrow claim that OneBC has added an incumbent. The Facebook caption—“OneBC is growing”—and Brodie’s broader membership claim do not come with before-and-after membership totals in the material reviewed.
NewsForBC has not independently verified how many people have joined, how many have left other parties, or how membership is distributed across ridings. Social-media reactions cannot answer those questions.
The visible Facebook replies included enthusiasm, concerns about vote splitting and questions about candidate coverage. Facebook displayed only a selected “Most relevant” subset. It is not a representative survey of voters or party members, and ordinary commenters’ names are not reproduced here.
Findlay’s next step is a separate question
Chapman’s decision does not establish that Findlay is joining OneBC. Asked that question by Peace Arch News, he said it was for her to answer.
Later My Coast Now reporting said Doerkson confirmed Findlay would not run under the Conservative banner in the general election. That report said she had not confirmed whether she still planned to run in the riding. NewsForBC has not retrieved an announcement establishing a OneBC candidacy for her.
Earlier reports that she intended to remain the Conservative candidate in the Abbotsford–Mission by-election therefore need their date and context preserved. The by-election itself has since been cancelled.
The election is now official
Elections BC confirms writs were issued September 22 and final voting day is October 24, 2026. Advance voting runs October 16–21. Candidate nominations close October 3 at 1 p.m. Pacific time; a party announcement is not a substitute for the final official candidate list.
Elections BC also confirms that ballots already cast in the cancelled Abbotsford–Mission by-election will not count toward the general election. Those voters must vote again. The October 17 local elections are a separate electoral event.
OneBC’s release calls the provincial election unnecessary. Chapman similarly criticized its timing in his newspaper interview. Eby’s stated case, reported by My Coast Now, is that U.S. tariffs and threats from the Trump administration have changed the circumstances facing the province. These are competing political arguments about the election—not proof of anyone’s private motives.
The release’s election-cost and debt claims need context
OneBC’s graphic puts an $82.5-million price on the election. Elections BC’s report on the 2024 election, dated September 24, 2025, records a cost of $82,418,579 to administer that earlier election. That is a historical expense, not an independently verified final bill for the 2026 vote. The exact $82.5-million current-election figure in OneBC’s release was not established by the official sources reviewed.
The graphic also says Eby has tripled provincial debt, without specifying a starting date, debt measure or endpoint. The September first-quarter financial update forecasts total provincial debt of $180.9 billion and taxpayer-supported debt of $141.1 billion at the end of 2026–27. Those are different measures and future year-end forecasts, not the annual deficit. Without a defined comparison, this report does not certify the release’s exact “tripled” wording.
Borrowing and election costs are legitimate campaign questions. They are better tested against dated, comparable records than repeated as an unexplained multiplier or a settled invoice. See our separate election and fiscal-record report.
What voters should watch next
The immediate tests are which candidates are formally nominated, what each party proposes and how its commitments would be paid for. Chapman’s switch changes the lineup, but it does not establish a merger, a candidate-sharing arrangement or a three-party pact.
That distinction also applies to Brodie’s earlier willingness to discuss electoral cooperation, covered in NewsForBC’s report on her two recent interviews. Openness to cooperation and a completed agreement are different developments.
Editorial disclosure: NewsForBC has published a separate, labelled editorial supporting Brodie and OneBC. This news report applies the same verification standard to their statements as to those of other parties. No interviews or outreach were conducted for this report.
Sources and reporting notes
- Dallas Brodie’s Facebook post and OneBC release, September 22
- Brodie’s X welcome, September 22
- Tricia Leslie, Peace Arch News: Chapman’s move and interview
- My Coast Now: election call, party realignment and Findlay candidacy
- Elections BC: writs issued and by-election cancelled
- Elections BC: general-election dates
Source note and access limits · Evidence ledger · Social-source capture note