The next premier of B.C. will be in the Tournament Capital at the beginning of February - but that leader won’t know he or she has won the job yet.
The B.C. Liberal Party Kamloops-North Thompson and Kamloops-South Thompson constituency associations are bringing all six candidates in the party’s leadership race together for a fundraiser and debate at the Kamloops Convention Centre on Feb. 2.
Hoberly Hove, president of the Kamloops-South Thompson Liberal constituency association, said having all the candidates in the race come to the city is a “big deal.
“We hope it’s going to create a lot of excitement for our party as we go through a rebuilding process,” he told KTW.
All six candidates - including MLAs George Abbott, Mike de Jong, Kevin Falcon and Moira Stilwell, along with former MLA Christy Clark and former Parksville mayor Ed Mayne - will take part.
However, the event is open only to registered Liberal party members.
Hove, who noted he supports Abbott’s bid for premier, said the party hopes to sell 500 tickets to the dinner.
There are between 400 and 500 B.C. Liberal members in the Kamloops area.
The hour-long debate, which will start at 5 p.m., will be moderated by former Kamloops MLA Claude Richmond, but the exact format hasn’t been determined.
The candidates will also be invited to speak at a dinner that follows the debate.
It’s the second in a series of all-candidate debates planned by the party, with the first set to occur a few days earlier in Vancouver.
It will also mean return visits to Kamloops for all the candidates, aside from Stilwell and Mayne.
Kamloops-North Thompson Liberal MLA Terry Lake, who backs Abbott, said there has always been a sense the city is a bellwether region for politics in the province.
“I think there is an awareness that Kamloops is an important area in terms of political decision-making,” he said, noting the debate is a “tremendous opportunity” for local Liberals to listen to the candidates before casting a ballot on Feb. 26 for leader of the party.
Kamloops will also play host to the birth of another provincial political party.
The BC First Party will hold its founding annual general meeting in Kamloops on April 9.
The party, whose members include outspoken HST critic and FightHST organizer Chris Delaney, is in the process of creating constituencies throughout the province.
