LIBERALS EMBRACING ‘RENEWAL’
Andrew Wilkinson started the year, his second as B.C. Liberal leader, by announcing a theme of renewal.
“Every party needs renewal,” he declared. “Every party needs new blood, fresh faces, new ideas and that’s what we’re doing.”
He was exploiting an opening provided by the party’s improved showing in a Jan. 30 byelection in Nanaimo.
The New Democrats easily recaptured their longtime stronghold. But the Liberals increased their share of the vote at the expense of the slumping Greens, a result Wilkinson attributed to a fresh-faced candidate, 34-yearold Tony Harris.
“That kind of youthful enthusiasm is exactly what we’re looking for in candidates,” said the Liberal leader. “We’re looking for individuals, from all backgrounds and walks of life, who want to give back by making a meaningful contribution to the future of B.C.”
With that in mind, the Liberals launched Ready to Run, a web portal to recruit a new generation of candidates.
“We want talented, passionate, free-enterprise individuals who may have considered running for office before but didn’t know how to get involved,” it proclaimed. “And we’re committed to increasing representation of women, millennials and other under-represented groups in B.C. politics.”
The latter was tacit admission that the designated groups are more under-represented on the Opposition side of the house than in the NDP government.
Wilkinson added an air of urgency to the recruitment drive, insisting the Liberals need to start preparing for an election that could come at any time.
“This is a very unstable coalition,” he claimed, sipping from the same speculative bathwater as the rumour-mongers in the party backroom.
Moreover, the process of renewal was already underway, according to Wilkinson. Three Liberal MLAs had confided to him that they would be retiring at the next election, though he did not name them.
That was February. Four months would pass before any of the 41 MLAs in Wilkinson’s caucus would confirm they would not be running again.
First to announce her intentions was Linda Larson, twoterm Liberal MLA for Boundary-Similkameen.
“Two terms is enough,” she told reporter Dan Walton of the Oliver Chronicle in early June.
But she added that her personal view of term limits — “one of the not-best-kept-secrets” in the community — had nothing to do with any challenges in working with Wilkinson.
“I find it easier emotionally to work with Andrew than I did Christy (Clark),” she told the reporter. “But there’s a difference obviously than being in power compared to being in opposition.”
One down. Next to go was Ralph Sultan, who announced Tuesday that he would not be seeking a sixth term to represent his West Vancouver riding.
Wilkinson was quick to hail the news, writing on his Twitter feed: “A heartfelt thank you to Ralph for his years of service and dedication. He sets the standard that we all should strive for as elected officials.”
Including the ability to recognize when it is time to go, presumably.
Two down.
More retirement announcements will be coming this fall, according to the Liberals. Speculation includes Donna Barnett, three-term MLA for Cariboo-Chilcotin, and Steve Thomson, representing Kelowna-Mission.
Thomson was on medical leave last year for triple bypass surgery. But when asked earlier this year about his plans, he said he was still mulling over whether to run again.
I’ve been told that the prospective retirees could include Ben Stewart, MLA for Kelowna West. But that may be a case of wishful thinking on the part of some Liberals hoping for an opportunity to replace one of the more obvious time servers in their caucus with a more useful MLA.
Sounding unlikely to go is six-term MLA Mike de Jong from Abbotsford West. Quote: “Rumours of my imminent departure are greatly exaggerated.”
De Jong, though no stranger to controversy, continues to make significant contributions to the Opposition effort to hold the government to account from his position on the Liberal front bench.
Then there’s Shirley Bond, the veteran Liberal MLA and former cabinet minister from Prince George.
When my colleague Rob Shaw put her on his “time to go” list earlier this year, she bristled, and Bond is one of the best bristlers in the house.
She also insinuated that maybe the press gallery could use some renewal of its own. (Ouch)
But the real test of Wilkinson’s renewal drive will be whether it succeeds in soliciting retirement announcements from two baggage-packing MLAs in particular: Richmond’s Linda Reid and Langley’s Rich Coleman.
Just last week, Reid reminded everyone why she is long past her best-before date. She brushed off questions about her refusal to co-operate in an investigation into the now-departed sergeantat-arms, Gary Lenz.
As for Coleman, the guy is pulling an entire train of baggage behind him, stretching from here to the horizon.
The Liberals suggest that if Reid and Coleman try to run again, Wilkinson will exercise his option as leader to refuse to sign their nomination papers.
But at the same time, they are hoping it doesn’t come to that. They fear the damage that a wounded and spiteful Reid or Coleman could do by denouncing the leader or running as an independent.
So, Liberals hope Reid and Coleman take the hint from an orchestrated buildup of voluntary retirees and announce plans to retire themselves. That would take Wilkinson off the hook from having to push them out the door.