Peter Gordon Milobar (born February 13, 1970) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician serving as an MLA (Member of the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia () is the deliberative assembly of the Legislature of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The other component of the Legislature is the lieutenant governor of British Columbi ...

) from Kamloops since 2017. Representing the riding of Kamloops-Centre, he is a member of the

Conservative Party of British Columbia The Conservative Party of British Columbia, commonly known as the BC Conservatives and colloquially known as the Tories, is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. It is the main rival to the governing British Columbia New Demo ...

. He previously served as a member of the

BC Liberal Party BC United (BCU), known from 1903 until 2023 as the British Columbia Liberal Party or BC Liberals, is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party has been described as conservative, neoliberal, and occupying a centre-right ...

(later BC United) before crossing the floor to the Conservative Party in 2024.

Early life and career

Milobar was born in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, and raised in

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the North Thompson River, North and South Thompson Rivers, which join to become the Thompson River in Kamloops, and east of Kamloops Lake. The city is the ad ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. He lives in Kamloops with his wife Lianne and their three children where they operate a small business together. In addition to community involvement, Milobar has experience working with the BC Transit Board of Directors, PRIMECorp, and the Local Government Contract Management Committee.

Political career

Kamloops City Council

While managing his family's

Days Inn Days Inn is a hotel chain headquartered in the United States. It was founded in 1970 by Cecil B. Day, who opened the first location in Tybee Island, Georgia. The brand is now a part of the Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, headquartered in Parsippany ...

Hotel, Milobar made his first run for Kamloops City Council at the age of 32, winning his seat with 7,130 votes. Milobar ran on a platform of working to ensure Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) retain its status as a referral centre with further expansion/equipment to retain and attract new doctors and nurses, and the expansion of the local tax base by encouraging further development in Kamloops. At the age of 35 he was re-elected as a city councillor in the 2005 municipal election. He served on city council for two terms from 2002 to 2008 and chaired the

Thompson-Nicola Regional District The Thompson–Nicola Regional District is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Canada 2021 Census population was 143,680 and the area covers 44,449.49 square kilometres. The administrative offices are in the ma ...

from 2006 to 2011, making him the first

mayor elected to chair the Thompson Nicola Regional District. Following that, Milobar was then elected chair of the Thompson Regional Hospital District from 2012 to 2017.

Kamloops Mayor

On July 30, 2008, Milobar announced his plans to run for Mayor in the 2008 fall election with a platform of "A Balanced Approach" to decision making, and his goals of fulfilling tournament capital commitments, upgrading the sewage treatment plant, completing the Kamloops Sustainability Plan, working with agricultural groups on a new expo space, work on affordable housing options, safety initiatives between

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

and By-Law staff, and to work with

BC Transit BC Transit is a provincial Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation responsible for coordinating the delivery of public transportation within British Columbia, Canada, outside Greater Vancouver. BC Transit is headquartered in Victoria, Bri ...

for continued sustainable transit expansion. During the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

elected the 38-year old Milobar as Mayor of

on November 15, 2008. 13,147 ballots cast in his favour, gave him 74.13% of the overall vote, making him the 39th mayor of

. He was mayor for 3 terms from 2008 to 2017, making him Kamloops' longest-serving mayor.

BC Liberal/United

Milobar was elected in the 2017 provincial election"BC Liberal Peter Milobar declared elected in Kamloops-North Thompson"
''CFJC Today'', May 9, 2017. as a member of the

BC Liberal BC United (BCU), known from 1903 until 2023 as the British Columbia Liberal Party or BC Liberals, is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party has been described as conservative, neoliberal, and occupying a centre-right ...

caucus, representing the electoral district of the

Kamloops-North Thompson Kamloops-North Thompson is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was formerly considered a political bellwether for the next provincial government, having swung to the governing party ever ...

. During his time he served as the official opposition critic for Finance, for Environment and Climate Change, for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation and was previously the opposition House Leader. He was re-elected in 2020, winning by less than 200 votes.

Conservative Party of BC

On September 3, 2024, Peter Milobar was announced as the

candidate for

Kamloops Centre Kamloops Centre is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. Created under the 2021 British Columbia electoral redistribution, the riding will first be contested in the 2024 British Columbia general ...

. Despite difference on social policies, such as SOGI123, he said he will find agreement with party leader John Rustad. Experts consider him a centrist voice and he signalled similar positions in an interview with his local news station when asked whether he considers himself a Conservative. He went on to win his seat again, defeating

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National Dev ...

candidate Kamal Grewal by about 2,000 votes. He celebrated with his friends and family at Match Eatery at Cascades Casino that night. Milobar currently serves as the official opposition's critic for Finance. In February 2025, as a response to what he regards as residential school denialism emerging from his own party caucus, after

Dallas Brodie Dallas Brodie MLA is a Canadian politician and lawyer who has served as the interim leader of OneBC since 2025 and as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) for Vancouver-Quilchena since 2024. Initially elected as a m ...

tweeted controversial statements, he delivered some deeply personal comments in the legislature. He emphasized his background and the fact that his wife and his kids are all Indigenous son-in-law is a Tk’emlúps band member. He also reaffirmed his commitment to pushing back against denialism recognizing that he would do this knowing that his comments would not be welcome in all spaces including his own party. He did concede that it was difficult for the Conservative caucus to navigate this divisive topic, but when confronted with it in his own party he pushed back and did not remain silent.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milobar, Peter Living people 1970 births Canadian people of Croatian descent Alcohol distribution retailers BC United MLAs British Columbia municipal councillors Canadian hoteliers Mayors of Kamloops Politicians from Edmonton 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia British Columbia Conservative Party MLAs 21st-century mayors of places in British Columbia