UPDATED: Independent MLA Boultbee joins BC NDP

Now-former Independent MLA Amelia Boultbee has joined the BC NDP.

She made the announcement at the legislature in Victoria on Friday.

Boultbee, who represents Penticton-Summerland, was originally elected in 2024 under the BC Conservative banner.

"We’re facing generational challenges that have developed over decades," she wrote in a post on Facebook afterwards. "Solving them calls for leadership that’s thoughtful, principled, and determined. And when I think about who’s best positioned to do this work, my confidence is with this Premier and this caucus."

Boultbee noted that while she has criticized the BC NDP in the past, "being an Independent MLA has given me the opportunity to collaborate with those MLAs and to appreciate the potential of working together."

"I've always believed that politics should be about respecting each other while working to solve problems," she continued. "Those values have never changed. However, the party I was first elected with has. What was promised to me (and many others) as a big tent party gets smaller by the day. With a new leader more consumed with divisive Donald Trump-style populism than with the things that actually matter most to people, it’s clearer now than ever that they’re offering no real solutions."

She argued that the BC Conservatives' approach would "set our province back and leave us more divided."

"48th. So we don't be the 51st," she declared, referring to President Donald Trump's threats of annexation.

"Amelia showed real courage leaving the extreme BC Conservatives — and since has been a fierce independent voice for her constituents," Premier David Eby wrote in a post on X. "Today's she's joining our BC NDP team, where we're focused on healthcare, housing costs and getting big projects built."