Candidates get around on Week 1 of campaign

Since the writ dropped April 11, leaders of the B.C. Liberals, NDP and Greens have been criss-crossing the province to stake early claims in battleground ridings.

19 CITIES

B.C. Liberal Leader Christy Clark has visited 19 cities in the first eight days, while NDP Leader John Horgan visited 18. Green Leader Andrew Weaver visited six cities and stuck mostly to Vancouver Island, visiting only Vancouver and New Westminster on the mainland.

10 SEATS

To beat the B.C. Liberals, the NDP must snag an extra 10 seats May 9 to hold 45 of the total 87 in the legislature. Max Cameron, a politicalscience professor at the University of B.C., said the NDP faces “more of an uphill battle” with its campaign because the party is outgunned by the Liberals, who have more cash. “The NDP has to make its candidate visible and likable; at the same time they have to try to appeal beyond the traditional party base,” Cameron said. And while the Greens have a strong base on Vancouver Island, the party must focus on building support in the Lower Mainland if it hopes to build upon the single seat Weaver won in 2013.

802 KILOMETRES

The farthest single leg of a tour travelled so far is 802 kilometres, which Christy Clark flew Tuesday between Vancouver and Fort St. John. There, reporters took a walk around Site C dam, a controversial $9-billion hydroelectric project.

APRIL 13

Thursday was the busiest day of the campaign, with the Greens making four stops on Vancouver Island (Victoria, Shawnigan Lake, Duncan and Sidney) before travelling to an all-candidates meeting in Vancouver. The NDP released its platform in Coquitlam, then travelled to Okanagan Falls and a pair of events in Penticton. The Liberals flew to Kitimat, Terrace and Prince Rupert, where Clark pledged to create liquefied natural gas jobs.

STRATEGY

“It would make sense for Horgan to try to be a bit more targeted than Christy Clark,” Cameron said. He said Clark’s touring schedule is conservative and it seems the Liberals are focused on carefully protecting strongholds. Horgan and the NDP need to focus on swing ridings and build “a wave” of momentum, Cameron said.