THE CANDIDATES
Mike de Jong:
Current Liberal house leader and former finance minister, de Jong has spent 24 years as an MLA. He represents experience, but not necessarily renewal, for the party. His reputation as a tight fiscal manager earns him praise in some quarters, and criticism in others, where some feel his stinginess left an unspent surplus the party could have used in government to help win the 2017 election. He has six MLA endorsements, including party heavyweight and interim leader Rich Coleman. He has an agreement to encourage his supporters to cast second-choice ballots for Andrew Wilkinson and vice versa.
Michael Lee:
A rookie MLA, Lee lacks the public profile of his rivals, but is backstopped by an experienced campaign team that includes former premier Christy Clark’s ex-husband Mark Marissen. He also has connections to the conservative wing of the party. A business lawyer for natural resource companies, Lee claims to have signed up the most new party members. That could give him an edge, though his critics say his votes are concentrated in Vancouver, Richmond and Surrey. Lee’s platform promises are costed at $1.3 billion by Year 3.
Todd Stone:
A longtime Liberal organizer, Stone has nonetheless portrayed himself as the young, dynamic voice of renewal for the party. He founded a technology company in Kamloops before he ran in 2013, and Clark subsequently made him transportation minister. That portfolio gave him a high profile, but he also made enemies in Metro Vancouver as the public face of the failed transit referendum and dysfunctional relationship on transit issues. He’s the only candidate from the Interior. He has seven MLA endorsements, as well as former party leader Gordon Wilson, Clark’s ex-chief of staff Dan Doyle, and Clark’s ex-head of the public service, John Dyble. Stone’s platform promises are costed at $1.06 billion by Year 3.
Sam Sullivan:
Vancouver’s former mayor, Sullivan, now an MLA, has spent much of the race floating controversial ideas that he hopes will kickstart discussions the other candidates wouldn’t otherwise have. His proposals — to bring back a modified harmonized sales tax, increase privatization in health care, sell the government liquor business to employees (an idea Andrew Wilkinson supports, as well), and provide free drugs to addicts — have set him apart from rivals, though he hasn’t travelled the province and his odds of victory remain long.
Dianne Watts:
The former mayor of Surrey and its former Conservative MP, Watts has widely been considered the front-runner for most of the race. Though she’s faced criticism for a vague platform, poor debate performance and relative lack of history within the B.C. Liberals, Watts has also travelled the province extensively and signed up a large number of new members. As the only non-MLA candidate, she represents the outsider voice for party reform.
Andrew Wilkinson:
A former president of the party, Wilkinson’s history with the Liberals stretches back to helping unite the modern-day freeenterprise coalition under Gordon Campbell. Most recently, he was a cabinet minister in Clark’s government. An Oxford-educated doctor and lawyer, Wilkinson has tried during the race to emphasize his rural roots and history working in small B.C. communities to counterbalance his image as an over-educated Vancouver elitist. He has 13 MLA endorsements, the most of any candidate. His platform is costed at $274 million in spending by Year 3. He has an agreement to encourage supporters to cast secondchoice ballots for de Jong.