Leadership candidates get claws out
Watts on receiving end of several barbs as hopefuls press their case in final debate
Knives were out Tuesday night at the final B.C. Liberal leadership debate as candidates made lastditch bids for the chance to defeat Premier John Horgan.
With less than two weeks until 60,000 Liberal party members cast ballots to select a leader, hundreds packed into the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver to cheer and jeer for the six candidates as they traded barbs over their platforms, experience and commitment to the party.
Vying for the leadership are Dianne Watts, the former Surrey mayor and Conservative MP, and Liberal MLAs Michael Lee, Todd Stone, Andrew Wilkinson, Mike de Jong and Sam Sullivan.
About 20 minutes into their fifth and final night of debate — following opening questions from moderator Keith Baldrey of Global B.C. and when candidates were first given the chance to question each other — the dog pile on Watts began.
Wilkinson went first, accusing her of a “lack of specificity” in her platform and calling on her to list five things the party needed to get done in February. Watts offered no such list, instead saying any work would have to be a “team effort.”
Watts later fumbled when de Jong asked her a pointed question about softwood lumber, accusing de Jong of playing “gotcha politics” by asking about a file on which he is an expert and she is not.
Todd Stone challenged Watts on her commitment to the party, asking her to pledge to seek a seat in the legislature, fight proportional representation and support the Liberals in the next election.
“I’m committed to doing whatever it takes to ensure that the NDP and Greens do not continue,” Watts said.
Wilkinson then piled on Watts about crime in Surrey, accusing her of having nothing of substance on the issue in her platform, while Watts said she knew through her work as mayor about the importance of addressing root causes through supportive housing and addiction treatment.
“This is an affront to British Columbians, what you just said, and it’s absolutely wrong,” Watts shot back.
Wilkinson and Lee engaged in a heated back-and-forth over Lee’s inexperience in provincial politics. Lee was elected as an MLA last year; Wilkinson was party president from 1998-2001 and elected as an MLA in 2013.
Wilkinson said he’d long been “in the trenches.” Lee responded to his chiding that “it’s no wonder we’re in opposition” rather than governing. Lee said the party needs to band together and it was time to do so with a fresh face.
Stone accused Wilkinson of having a “timid and tired” platform that would not win the next election. “Sticking your head in the sand is not going to win the next election, Andrew,” Stone said.
“You are trying to copy Justin Trudeau by spending us into oblivion,” Wilkinson replied.
The candidates slammed the NDP-Green alliance’s push for proportional representation, with de Jong calling it “political manipulation” and Stone calling it an “attack on democracy” being used to cling to power.
Liberal party members begin voting Feb. 1. Results will be announced Feb. 3.