Kevin Falcon launched his leadership campaign Tuesday, as expected, jointly in Surrey and Prince George, trying to position himself as a candidate with a significant interest in rural B.C.
"I'm trying to send an important message that the next leader of the party and premier of the province needs to be an individual who puts the North and rural British Columbia on equal setting and standing with the Lower Mainland and Victoria," Falcon told The Citizen.
Falcon kicked off his campaign in his home riding of Surrey in the morning, then flew to Prince George for another campaign kickoff. He joins George Abbott and Moria Stilwell who announced last week.
During his Prince George kickoff in front of an audience of about 80 people, he was introduced by former Social Credit cabinet minister Bruce Strachan and community business leaders, including Bruce Sutherland.
No north or central B.C. Liberal MLAs - including Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Pat Bell and Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond - were in attendance. Bell said Tuesday he is "waiting and watching."
During his Surrey announcement, Falcon unveiled he had the support of nine Lower Mainland MLAs and one Vancouver Island MLA.
Falcon, who resigned as health minister as he launched his campaign, said he would move immediately on the promised wood innovation centre slated for downtown Prince George.
Although the details of the centre - promised in consecutive B.C. Liberal throne speeches - have not been fleshed out, there has been talk of tying in an engineering program via UNBC.
Falcon said he views training engineers in the North as the lynchpin of any economic strategy in the North. "We have to replicate the the success we've had in the medical program (at UNBC), in the engineering field," he said.
Falcon's agenda would also include continued highway improvement in the Pine Pass area, considered critical for northern B.C. businesses to access oil and gas opportunities in the northeast B.C. and Alberta. He said he would also support continued expansion at the Port of Prince Rupert, a critical component of a new corridor meant to tap into the booming Asian economy.
The Liberal leadership opened up when Premier Gordon Campbell announced suddenly more than three weeks ago he was stepping down halfway through his third term. Campbell acknowledged he had become a lightning rod for public anger over the harmonized sales tax.
Falcon became the third candidate to say he would move up the date of a referendum on the HST scheduled for Sept. 24, 2011.
Falcon also said he would have a discussion with the public to see if they would support the HST if, ultimately, it was reduced to 10 per cent from 12 per cent.
He would introduce a one-per-cent reduction up front, and a later one-per-cent cut when increased provincial revenues allow it. He said his "instinct" is that people would support the HST if it was reduced.
Falcon said he believes there is funding from increased revenues to support the one-per-cent HST cut, which would cost about $800 million. A 15-per-cent income tax cut - with a cost of about $600 million - was put on hold recently to give leadership contenders room to introduce their own measures.
Falcon is also promising to bring a fresh leadership approach - one he called a new generation of leadership - which would rely on listening to the public, learning and leading. He's dubbed the leadership strategy the three L's.
Other potential contenders in the Liberal leadership race include Attorney General Mike de Jong, Solicitor General Rich Coleman, and radio talk show host Christy Clark, a former Liberal cabinet minister.
