Our Ranking of the Liberal Leadership Candidates
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BC needs an environmental champion for premier, but the Liberal leadership race has failed to provide one.
None of the candidates have presented a bold vision for the way forward. We've tried repeatedly to engage their campaigns in a discussion on our common future. We've asked them to put forward clear, compelling and honest positions on our toughest environmental issues. We've asked the candidates to give us a reason to encourage environmentally minded voters to support them. None has offered a response sufficiently broad and deep that they stand out from the others as a true champion.
Despite this, we are recommending a ranking for the candidates because we think all concerned party members should still play a role in this leadership race and choose the next premier of our province. However, we want to be clear that we are only ranking the candidates relative to each other -- none has given us reason to endorse them as an environmental leader.
So, for those of you who joined the Liberal Party:
Conservation Voters of BC recommends that when you vote on Saturday, February 26 (tomorrow) you rank the candidates as follows: 1. Mike de Jong
2. George Abbott
3. Christy Clark
Note: You must rank at least two candidates when you vote, or your ballot will be disqualified. (For a discussion of why we ranked in this order, please see the bottom of this email.) PLEASE RANK ALL THREE CANDIDATES, IN CASE THE VOTING GOES THREE ROUNDS! Haven't received your PIN yet? Call ASAP!! 1-888-281-8683
We are disappointed to only be able to offer this limited, relative ranking, because we know that many of you joined the Liberal party in hopes that a leader with courageous environmental convictions would emerge.
Despite the candidates' unwillingness to break from the pack with bold positions, you should still be proud, because together we've shown we're willing to do what it takes to support strong leadership in this province. Given your strong support in areas the Liberals have few members and the way your votes are weighted, together we hold at least 6% of overall Liberal Party votes -- possibly enough to sway the outcome. This percentage is higher on Vancouver Island where our supporters average 17% of riding level membership and in the Kootenays where our supporters average almost 19% of membership.
For those of you who joined the NDP to put the same pressure on the them during their leadership race, we want to let you know that we'll be collecting statements and meeting with candidates as soon as possible, and we'll work to compile that information on the CVBC website.
Together, all of us will be ready to push for strong environmental leadership during the next provincial election.
What happens next?
Public interest in the Liberal leadership race was unprecedented. We have shown that British Columbians are no longer willing to let small groups of people decide the future for our province behind closed doors. We're no longer willing to wait patiently to cast our votes every 4 years. We're going to insert ourselves into the political process at every step possible, because it's our future that is at stake.
Regardless of the outcome Saturday, we need to send the next Premier of BC a message: continued support for the status quo isn't good enough. More of the same isn't sufficient to protect our families, our communities and the environment. We need to call on the next Premier to shrug off the timid positioning of the leadership race and take a stand at the front of the line. Show us policies that are worthy of support, show us you take the issues seriously and are ready to make some bold moves, and we're ready to work with you to build a better BC.
Sincerely,
The Conservation Voters of BC Board
Kevin, Lisa, Naomi, Sean and Will
Our considerations in ranking candidates' positions.
Thanks to all of you who sent in information on the candidates' positions. All of that information and more has been compiled on the Conservation Voters web site, click here.
Note that our 1st & 2nd ranking for de Jong and Abbott were quite close. We put de Jong on top because of his early willingness to meet face to face to discuss the issues and his straighforward answers. Visit the CVBC site for more details on both candidates' positions.
Mike de Jong
Positives:
Negatives:
George Abbott Positives:
Negatives:
Christy Clark
Positives
Negatives
Kevin Falcon – Mr. Falcon has made virtually no public statements about the environment during the campaign, other than to indicate that BC needs to “review” its climate action.
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