Former British Columbia Education Minister George Abbott on Tuesday November 16, 2010.Darryl Dyck/ The Globe and Mail
Two possible key candidates for the job of Liberal leader are touting their rural roots as they consider campaigns - although it has been 27 years since voters actually elected a premier from outside the Lower Mainland.
Education Minister George Abbott and former Liberal MLA Blair Lekstrom, who resigned as energy minister over the HST controversy and left the caucus, both said on Tuesday that they were mindful of the issue, but prepared to deal with it.
New Democrat Dan Miller from Prince Rupert was an interim premier in 1999, but Bill Bennett from Kelowna was the last elected premier from outside the Vancouver region to win office. He was last elected in 1983 and resigned in 1986.
During a tour of an elementary school, Mr. Abbott said the Liberal Party could use a little "farm boy" perspective, touting his roots in Sicamous and the Shuswap as useful experience for B.C.'s top political job.
Asked about the rural/urban divide, the four-time Shuswap MLA dryly noted, "somehow I was able to thrive and survive for four years as a health minister despite coming from a small town."
"For our party to be successful, they need to embrace both the Interior, the Lower Mainland and Vancouver. It needs to be a broad-based party that understands the great diversity of this province, that understands the many perspectives that come from the different regions in the province," the Sicamous resident said.
"It's good to have the diversity to listen to others, to build a respectful relationship with others and that's something I think I can do based on my small-town roots."
Although he said he would not make any announcement about his future until next week, Mr. Abbott sounded as if he was perched on the starting line of the leadership race.
He noted his family is behind him, his children are "entirely independent," and he is prepared to resign from cabinet if he launches a campaign.
Mr. Lekstrom, the three-term MLA for Peace River South now sitting as an Independent, said he is setting next Monday as his "drop dead day" for announcing whether he will seek the leadership of a party he left earlier this year, and he is ready to make a case as a candidate who can bridge the divide between rural and urban B.C.
"Whether it's real or perceived, it's still there in our province," Mr. Lekstrom said, noting he recognizes rural needs, but can also address urban needs, "which are substantially different, but real."
But he said he will make the case for support. "If you want the job and you're committed to it, I don't care if you're in Pouce Coupe or you're in Vancouver Point Grey, you're going to go out there, and you're going to present yourself in a manner that, if you're the right person for the job, you're going to be the premier."
Asked about his big-city credentials, Mr. Lekstrom noted his time in government provided some lessons, and that serving on the executive of the Union of B.C. Municipalities, which helped educate him on such issues as transportation and poverty, was also helpful.
The two-term Dawson Creek mayor said that, if he runs, he hopes urban voters will see him as someone ready to learn about areas he is not up on.
"If somebody in Vancouver Point Grey is looking at Blair Lekstrom, I hope they can look at me the same as somebody in Fort St. John or Dawson Creek, who says, 'There's a guy that loves this province. There's a guy that thinks he has some ideas to build a stronger province.' "
He said candidates from the Lower Mainland have some "additional benefits" given the region's population, but the party's proposal for a weighted-vote system to balance out the say of rural B.C. has helped address the issue.
The weighted vote system is subject to approval by delegates at a special convention on Feb. 12-14, days before the leadership vote.
Mr. Abbott took note of the weighted vote system, but said it won't make his entry into the race a foregone conclusion. He added that he didn't think the system would guarantee a victory.
"I think any candidates for the office are going to have to work very, very hard to win the confidence and trust of first, B.C. Liberal members and subsequently British Columbia's broad voting base."