B.C. Liberals have chosen Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Andrew Wilkinson as their new leader, but party members in Powell River-Sunshine Coast had Todd Stone and Dianne Watts as their top choices through most of the five rounds it took to settle the race.
Detailed vote breakdowns released by the B.C. Liberals show Stone had 65 votes and Watts 62 of the 229 votes cast in the riding in the first round. Wilkinson had 46.
Those numbers remained fairly stable with Stone, Watts and Wilkinson finishing 1-2-3 in Powell River-Sunshine Coast through the third round when Stone dropped off the ballot.
In the final two rounds of voting, Watts remained ahead of Wilkinson.
The Liberals used a ranked voting system, with ridings being assigned an equal weight of 100 points that would be awarded to the candidates based on their vote percentages in each round.
High-profile local support likely benefitted Stone.
Mathew Wilson, the party’s candidate in the last election, and his father Gordon, a former party leader who still lives in the riding, came out in support of Stone early in the race. So did former MLA Judi Tyabji, Gordon Wilson’s wife.
Stone, Watts, Michael Lee and Wilkinson all made campaign stops on the Coast.
In an interview with Coast Reporter in Sechelt in mid-December, Wilkinson said he’d be ready to face the NDP from day one.
“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 be ready for a snap election that the NDP could call if they see the opportunity.”
Wilkinson also said during his December visit to the Coast that he believes it’s vital to give young people training and opportunities to allow them the option of staying instead of moving to urban centres.
He also spoke of the need to improve ferry 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 will get his first chance to face Premier John Horgan in the legislature when MLAs return next week, and Wilkinson predicted in December that if he won he would have no trouble uniting caucus behind him.
“The five candidates who are currently in the Liberal caucus actually get along very well,” he said. “Sure, there are going to be some disagreements in the [leadership] debates – that’s why we have the debates.”
