Liberal candidates backtrack to lakecity

In the waning days of the race, at least three Liberal party leadership candidates were in an all-out sprint across the province hoping either to win over undecided party members or shore up existing supporters. On Tuesday, Kevin Falcon and Christy Clark visited Williams Lake;  George Abbott followed yesterday in advance of the Jan. 26 vote. Abbott’s campaign was buoyed by the support of former candidates Ed Mayne and Moira Stilwell. Cariboo Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett also announced her backing of Abbott for leader. The three campaigns apparent interest in the province’s rural regions could be attributed to the party’s recent decision to implement a system of electing a leader that gives all ridings in the province the same number of votes.  During their visit, the candidates reiterated their platform points.Candidate Kevin Falcon stressed the importance of unity and maintaining the party’s coalition of federal Liberals and Conservatives. He referred to party members as the “hiring committee” pitching his credentials that include six years as the minister of transportation and infrastructure when he travelled the province and got “very good insight.” He stressed his commitment to free enterprise and win or lose pledged continued support for the Liberal party and the Cariboo Chilcotin, noting for the latter government needs to recognize the region’s contribution through the greater distribution of dollars outside the Lower Mainland.Falcon expressed ongoing support for the Prosperity mine, saying if government cares about rural B.C. it has to “get that back on track.” That, he says, will encourage young people to move to the area and provide “high-paying, family-supporting jobs.” Falcon further expressed his support for deregulation, referring to government regulation as “a block.” Christy Clark’s entourage, including former CTV anchor Pamela Martin, followed Falcon’s. Martin framed the choice facing constituents as not only electing a party leader but choosing a leader who can win the next provincial election. Clark, who does not currently hold a seat in the legislature, said if she wins the leadership she will seek a seat in a byelection as soon as possible, adding it could be in Gordon Campbell’s old riding. If elected leader, Clark said she would not wait until 2013 for a provincial election but seek a mandate sooner after waiting until the NDP elects its leader and the HST referendum is complete.  Clark suggested she could provide the change in government that she says B.Cers are looking for and other candidates in the race can’t. Her Families First platform hinges largely on economic growth that she says will give families the opportunity to “provide for their children.” “When people work families are healthy,” she said, adding government needs to clear the path for free enterprise.  In his address to constituents, Abbott noted that the party had become “defensive and insular” over some of its policies.Abbott harkened to his rural past and growing up on a farm in Sicamous; he outlined policies that would offer more support to farmers and ranchers including bringing back the Buy-B.C. brand and funding predator control programs.“We’ve not done good job ensuring farmers are sustainable and viable,” he said.  Abbott spoke of the Agriculture Land Reserve as “taking away some options farmers and ranchers have.” He touched on the importance of resource development in providing employment opportunities for the next generation while maintaining rural communities.   “We need to make more opportunities for kids in more towns and regions in the north,” he said, adding resource development provides jobs, tax revenue and opportunities. Liberal party members will vote for a new leader and premier Jan. 26.