Edmonton Journal

NDP leader forgoes debate with B.C. premier

Dix says it would be disrespect­ful to exclude other parties from showdown

- TIFFANY CRAWFORD

VANCOUVER — B.C. NDP leader Adrian Dix says he will not join Premier Christy Clark in a one-on-one debate on May 6, after the premier on Tuesday announced she had accepted the challenge from a news outlet.

Clark told the Liberal candidate caucus during a meeting in Vancouver that she had accepted a letter from Global BC to be part of a one-on-one leadership debate with Dix.

“We are doing it without conditions,” she said. “I will be at Global studios … I hope I’m not the only one.”

But Dix turned down the challenge, saying that excluding the other parties is disrespect­ful.

In turn, Clark dismissed Dix’s concerns, saying that, realistica­lly, the race for premier comes down to only two candidates.

The 90-minute town-hall-style debate would be separate from the traditiona­l all-candidates showdown, she said.

“In the consortium debate and the radio debate, all four (party) leaders will be there, I understand. But you know, the thing is, there are only two of us that are in position to become premier.”

With only five weeks to go until the election and the Liberals struggling in the polls, Clark said she thinks a debate would help voters understand where the party stands.

At the party meeting in Vancouver, Clark spoke of a “renewed” Liberal party, noting that there are more women running under the party’s banner than ever before. She told candidates that it was important to get out and share with constituen­ts the Liberals’ plans to create a debtfree B.C.

The provincial election is set for May 14.

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