B.C.’s Liberals use convention to rebrand
Party’s new slogan — ‘Opportunities for all of B.C.’ — designed to reach a more diverse group of voters
British Columbia’s Liberal leader gave himself and his party an “A for effort” in their work trying to reconnect with the electorate following a devastating loss of power last year.
Speaking to reporters at the Liberal convention in Vancouver on Saturday, Andrew Wilkinson said the party is still working to define who it is, the message it will convey and the platform it will put forward before another election is called.
But he said it’s been making good progress during this weekend’s convention.
“I would give us an A for effort, and we’re still working on results because we’re brand new after a leadership campaign that finished eight months ago,” he said.
The party led the province for 16 years leading up to the 2017 election, in which the Liberals won the highest number of seats.
However, the party was defeated when the NDP signed an agreement with the Green party and Lieutenant-governor Judith Guichon gave the New Democrats the thumbs up to lead as a minority party.
The convention was the first since Wilkinson was elected party leader earlier this year, and members addressed the difficult task ahead directly.
“Now that we’re not in government anymore, we have to take a look at why that is,” executive director Emile Scheffel told delegates.
“This was our first convention as an opposition party and I’m not going to lie to you, we did not know if people would show up the way they used to,” Scheffel said, adding that turnout surpassed his expectation and was about the same as attendance at the 2016 convention.
A panel on the party’s future said it needs to find a way to appeal to young voters after not electing a single member of the legislature who is under 40.
Panelists also celebrated the party’s existing commitment to free-market principles, pro-business policies and social principles.
The party also revealed its new slogan, “Opportunity for all of B.C.,” based on feedback from focus groups. It replaces “Today’s B.C. Liberals.”
The party’s new core message will be key to demonstrating its commitment to represent every person in the province — not only select segments or voters, Wilkinson said.
But while Wilkinson said in his keynote address that the party needs to “completely refresh itself,” he focused a significant amount of time on past successes and current criticisms of the NDP government.
He spent time celebrating former Liberal premier Christy Clark’s vision to grow the liquefied natural gas industry and slamming the NDP’s tax policies as devastating to investors.
He also emphasized increasing access to higher education and creating jobs, which was one of Clark’s main messages in both the 2013 and 2017 campaigns, as top priorities.
Wilkinson won the Liberal party leadership in February on a platform to expand and broaden membership, as well as to fight the possibility of electoral reform that would see the province move to a proportional representation system.
The province is in the midst of a referendum campaign on electoral reform, and Wilkinson will face Premier John Horgan in a televised debate on Thursday.
Wilkinson said he’s more than ready.
“Rest assured, we are going to take him to task on (Thursday) and show British Columbians what we’re made of,” he said to applause.