Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Andrew Wilkinson says he’s got momentum heading into the final stretch of the BC Liberal leadership race, and if he wins he’ll be ready to fight an election.
Wilkinson was in Sechelt Dec. 16 to meet party faithful and try to earn their support.
In an interview with Coast Reporter, he pointed to his support among sitting MLAs. “I’ve got 13 MLAs supporting me, which is more than all the rest [of the candidates] combined, and I’m getting very good feedback,” he said.
He said one of the reasons he decided to throw his hat into the ring was to make sure B.C. has as many opportunities for his children, who are in their late teens and 20s, as it did for him and his siblings.
“It’s incumbent on us to do our level best to make sure that B.C. remains the land of opportunity and every British Columbian has the chance to be the very best they can be.”
Wilkinson also said he believes a professional and political career that has allowed him to spend time throughout the province gives him a broad perspective.
“There are different ways of life in this province. Having been to Fort St. John one day of the week, and Duncan another day of the week, the issues have very little overlap between those areas of the province. We have to make sure we’re talking to people about the specifics in their area.”
For coastal communities, he believes it’s vital to give young people the training and opportunities that would allow them the option of staying instead of moving to urban centres.
On ferries, Wilkinson said the Sunshine Coast is due for a boost in service. “The level of activity on the Coast and the population is starting to warrant a significant upgrade to the ferry service. The question isn’t does it need to happen, it’s when and what needs to be done.”
Wilkinson also criticized the NDP for delaying Site C to allow a review by the BC Utilities Commission. “The NDP have demonstrated a real lack of leadership on these files,” he said.
Like the other leadership candidates, and the party as a whole, Wilkinson is strongly opposed to proportional representation and the NDP’s plan for a referendum, which he calls “a sweetheart deal with the Greens.”
Wilkinson said if electoral reform is to be considered at all, the process should be the same as the one that used a citizens’ assembly to come up with a proposal that could be put to a vote, as the Liberals did in the 2004 and 2009 referendums.
He’s gone as far as launching a petition claiming the current proposal is “an unprecedented and undemocratic referendum.”
Wilkinson said he thinks getting the party united behind the new leader won’t be difficult, and if he wins, he’ll be ready to face the NDP.
“I’m one of just a couple of candidates in this race who I think could be ready to take on John Horgan on day one, and ready to take on the NDP in the spring,” he said.
“No one knows when the election will be, and we have to ready for a snap election that the NDP could call if they see the opportunity.”
As Wilkinson sees it, the Liberals faltered in the last election because they weren’t talking to British Columbians about issues the mattered in their daily lives. “The NDP on the Lower Mainland were talking to people about things that mattered right in their living rooms about saving them costs, and we were talking to them from 30,000 feet about debt-to-GDP ratios and credit ratings that meant nothing to them. We’re going to have to make a campaign that’s much more relevant in people’s lives,” he said, adding that in the next campaign the Liberals would also have to be very responsive to local issues.
Wilkinson, MLAs Todd Stone, Mike de Jong, Michael Lee and Sam Sullivan, along with former Surrey mayor and Conservative MP Dianne Watts are the six candidates still in the race.
Stone was scheduled to visit the Sunshine Coast on Thursday, after Coast Reporter’s deadline.
The deadline to join the party and be eligible to vote in the leadership is Dec. 29. The new leader will be chosen in early February.
