Floor-crossing Penticton MLA Boultbee accused of betraying constituents

Okanagan area conservatives are not looking kindly on MLA Amelia Boultbee as she joins the BC NDP caucus, despite being an independent since October.

The former BC Conservative MLA helped bolster the NDP’s majority last week and some are seeing it as a rug-pull on her voters.

Her predecessor Dan Ashton suggested on social media Boultbee insulted Penticton-Summerland constituents.

“Now she not only betrays them, she insults them,” a post on X.com reads.

When Boultbee retorted to say she’ll reveal background research on Ashton obtained by the BC Conservatives, Okanagan Lake West-South Kelowna Conservative MP Dan Albas chimed in to suggest Boultbee’s decision was bout self-interest, not working for her community.

Boultbee was a harsh critic of the BC NDP government through her election campaign, in which she beat the NDP candidate by less than 400 votes in 2024. She continued her criticism of the party over policies and spending as a BC Conservative, but it lessened once she left the party.

Upon leaving the BC Conservatives, she has been harshly critical of former leader John Rustad and the party’s direction with its new leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay.

Though she suggested there could be a possibility of re-joining the Conservatives after Findlay’s election, she remained an independent for a month until joining the BC NDP.

Vernon-Lumby MLA Harwinder Sandhu, the only elected NDP member in the Thompson-Okanagan region, welcomed Boultbee into caucus suggesting she has heard from others who “no longer recognize” the BC Conservatives’ direction.

“No matter where you’ve stood politically in the past, you will always be treated with respect. If you believe in lifting people up instead of tearing them down, building stronger communities instead of deeper divisions, and working together instead of fighting one another, you are welcome,” Sandhu said in a statement on social media.

Kelowna-Mission BC Conservative MLA Gavin Dew, who accused Boultbee of being on the BC NDP “farm team” two months ago, suggested her floor-crossing was a losing strategy.

“If she wants to hop on board a sinking ship, that’s up to her,” he said in an email to iNFOnews.ca.

Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream MLA Tara Armstrong, who left the BC Conservatives in favour of more far-right politics, accused Boultbee of being a “radical left-wing MLA” who was joining a caucus that already aligned with her own ideals.

Legislators will return to Victoria in September for the next session.