THE BC NDP on Monday pointed out that BC Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson refused to answer a direct question about whether there were separatists in his party.
“He claimed he didn’t know what the question referred to (despite it being very clear), instead claiming that his patriotism was questioned,” it said.
But David Eby did not question Doerkson’s patriotism – he pointed out that there are western separatists in Doerkson’s party, including his constituency president Michael Henshall, the BC NDP said.
In February 2025, Lorne Doerkson thanked Henshall in the legislature and identified him as his constituency president. Henshall explicitly advocates for BC and Western separation from Canada.
Photos of Henshall with Doerkson are available here and here.
Henshall was elected to the school board in Doerkson’s riding on Saturday.
Earlier, the BC NDP had said in a press statement that Conservative MLAs / candidates Bryan Tepper, Heather Maahs, and David Williams are present in openly separatist Facebook groups, including the BC Prosperity Project.
The BC Prosperity Project was founded earlier this year as the BC spinoff of the Alberta Prosperity Project, the driving force behind the Alberta separation movement.
Williams and Maahs are also in the Northern BC version of the group, and Williams is the MLA who posted a graphic entitled “The Republic of Western Canada” and “a protectorate of the United States.”
In February 2025, Doerkson thanked separatist Michael Henshall in the legislature and identified him as his constituency president.
Henshall was quoted earlier this year defending separatists who met with the Trump administration, and calling [Prime Minister Mark] Carney and Eby treasonous. In April 2025 he posted “Now is the time for bold and courageous leadership for Western independence!” He explicitly advocates for BC and Western separation from Canada. (Video)
Doerkson said in a statement: “The Conservative Party of BC stands unequivocally for a strong and united Canada. Always. That is who I am, that is who our team is, and no desperate attack from David Eby will change it.
“David Eby questioning my patriotism is shameful. Invoking soldiers we lost this weekend in an attempt to save his own job is beyond the pale. Their sacrifice belongs to their families and to our country, never to a premier’s re-election campaign.
“This is a pathetic, desperate distraction from his record.”
