De Jong says his 2 decades of experience makes him best choice to shepherd party
Ex-finance minister to campaign for support in Kelowna today
Mike de Jong is counting on his experience and familiarity to win the support of B.C. Liberals in his leadership bid.
The longtime MLA, who is bringing his campaign to Kelowna today, says his political background leaves him the best prepared among a crowded field trying to lead the Liberals back to power in the next election.
“There isn’t a major cabinet position that I haven’t held,” de Jong said Tuesday before addressing a group of party supporters in Vernon.
During his five years as finance minister, de Jong said, the provincial budget was balanced while B.C. led the country in economic performance.
“These are accomplishments we scored as a team, and I was part of that team,” de Jong said. De Jong is one of eight contenders to replace former party leader Christy Clark, who resigned and quit politics in July after the Liberals were replaced by an NDP government supported by the Greens.
This is de Jong’s second run for the leadership, having lost to Clark in 2011. He has served in the legislature for 23 years.
“People have had the opportunity to see me in a variety of roles, both in opposition and as a member of the government,” said de Jong, indicating that familiarity should play well among Liberal party members when they choose a new leader in early February.
After taking power, one of the first things the NDP government did was to announce the province’s finances are in better shape than expected, de Jong said.
“And in the very next breath, the premier and the finance minister began to dismantle the balanced approach to economic development that got us here,” de Jong said, citing such things as an increase in taxes for high-income earners and a hike in the carbon tax.
Under the NDP, B.C. is headed for a reprise of the 1990s, when the province lost more people to out-migration than it attracted and the economy stagnated, de Jong predicted.
“We’ll begin to see that in fairly short order,” he said.