B.C. Solicitor-General Rich Coleman has announced he will support Kevin Falcon for the leadership of the B.C. Liberals.
Mr. Coleman is the fifth cabinet minister and 13th caucus member to line up behind Mr. Falcon, a former health minister; but his support, announced Wednesday, is a notable gain.
Mr. Coleman, who has been at the forefront of government efforts to deal with homelessness, was planning his own leadership run but cancelled it because of the demands it would have imposed on his family..
Mr. Coleman said he will direct the organization he had assembled to Mr. Falcon's campaign for the leadership, to be decided on Feb. 26.
The former Mountie said he has been in touch with any of the five candidates who wanted to chat but thought Mr. Falcon best qualified to hold together the lead the Liberal "free-enterprise" coalition into the next election, in 2013.
"Nobody pressured me. I made this decision on my own. I have a lot of friends in all the camps that are running for leadership, but my closest folks and my people are over in Kevin's camp," he said, standing by Mr. Falcon during a news conference.
"It was just a case of who do I think is the best of the five (candidates) even though all five are good, that I think can lead and keep the coalition together, which I think is critical for us to win the next election.
"He's the guy."
Mr. Falcon said many Liberals were wondering where Mr. Coleman was going to go, so he is gratified to have him in his camp.
"Rich brings an incredibly deep organization," said Mr. Falcon. "He will bring a whole bunch of supporters on board, a lot of people who may be wondering what to do will come on board because Rich Coleman is on board."