Kate Marland: Kerry-Lynne Findlay failed the Thatcher test very badly

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In Canada, we can look to leaders including Premier Danielle Smith, Rona Ambrose, Candice Bergen, and current MPs like Michelle Rempel Garner, and Raquel Dancho, among many others, as great examples of excellent female leadership that demonstrate the ability of women to rise above accusations of petty infighting and drama to deliver on the mandate bestowed upon them.

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On the flip side, there are female politicians who routinely, instead of rising to the occasion and defying narratives, slink into intrigue, paranoia, and infighting, living up to the criticisms and expectations often levelled at female leaders. Take, for example, former U.K. prime minister Liz Truss, whose brief tenure was riddled with just this type of scene, resulting in a legacy that has tragically left her as the butt of many jokes.

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Throughout the leadership race, and since her fateful election, Findlay and those she has surrounded herself with have routinely stooped to spreading gratuitous gossip and fueling unnecessary drama.

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Examples of this drama have permeated the online discourse, breaking B.C. containment and dominating conversations amongst conservatives nationwide. Just last week, MLA Rosalyn Bird’s statement on leaving caucus referenced issues with the “infighting, name-calling and division,” stating that British Columbians “expect their elected representatives to disagree respectfully.” Similarly, MLA Scott McInnis resigned from caucus citing concerns about Findlay’s “direction, judgment, and decisions,” highlighting a party that has become “an exclusive private club,” MLA A’a:liya Warbus resigned with a statement highlighting the “parade of people that have already come and gone in the span of three short months.”

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This is not to mention the drama amongst the party board, internal party staffing crises, and the general aura of intrigue playing out across the media.

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Findlay’s controversial Chief of Staff Scott Delaney resigned Wednesday, and in a resignation letter posted on X, since taken down, he referred to “those who have walked in previous days” as “enemies of democracy.” Another from Findlay’s office, Apollo Chung, was fired last week after recordings were released of an unidentified political staffer who claimed to have control of the leader, and mused about plans to use party funds, suggesting he would “steal everything.”

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In short, since Findlay assumed her station, her behaviour, or her inability to take control of whoever is the source of this drama, and its consequences have become the entire story at a time when leadership in B.C. is sorely needed.

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Women frequently face the accusation that we are quick to sow discord amongst internal groups, spread drama, and bring a reality tv-like approach to both life and politics. Why do some women continually live up to this lowest common denominator, and add fuel to the fire that women are poorly equipped to lead? It’s incredibly disappointing to see Findlay conduct herself in this way, and even if this is not how things are actually playing out behind the scenes, it is worth pointing out that this is very much the impression being made on the public at large.

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The question facing those who enter public service should always be: what can I do for my province? Instead, the question that seems to have been the central organizing principle of the last few months is “what can my province and party do for me”? To allow months to pass by without any meaningful advocacy on the threats to our property rights, the managed decline of the province, our disastrous health-care system, or the pervasive left-wing ideology of the Eby regime that underpins all these issues is an absurd abdication of leadership and makes it challenging to take any attempts at regaining the driver’s seat seriously.

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No part of what I am saying should be construed as evidence that women do not belong in politics. My grandmother, Margaret Marland, sat as the P.C. MPP for Mississauga South from 1985-2003, holding various opposition critic and cabinet roles. I have a deep admiration for every person who enters the arena of public service, male and female alike. Such pursuits are not for the faint of heart.

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But with the spectre of a new “mushy centrist B.C. party” looming, the possibility of David Eby governing forever seems increasingly likely, and equally so the possibility that the B.C. Conservatives will have squandered any chance at meaningfully contributing to a positive future for the province. I fear that we are much more likely to end up with a tragic example of female leadership gone wrong than that of our own provincial Thatcher. I hope that I am proven wrong.

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Kate Marland is the Executive Director of the Free Speech Union of Canada and the Deputy Editor of Without Diminishment, where she comments on arts and culture.

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