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Can local MLA become B.C. Liberal leader Saturday?

Final stretch of campaigning before Saturday's vote.

  • Merrifield clarifying social media trucker comments
  • Promises a different voice

Kelowna-Mission MLA Renee Merrifield described this week's final push of campaigning for the B.C. Liberal leadership race as ‘fast and furious.’

She is one of seven candidates running to succeed former leader Andrew Wilkinson after many months of online campaigning.

The other six candidates include fellow MLA’s Michael Lee and Ellis Ross; business leaders Gavin Dew, Val Litwin and Stan Sipos; and Kevin Falcon, a former Liberal cabinet minister and leadership candidate in 2011. Falcon is seen by many pundits as a probable winner although that may not pan out if he is unable to secure the majority of votes in the early rounds of the preferential voting system being used.

Phone-in and online voting by the party membership starts Thursday and ends Saturday with a winner expected to be announced that evening.

Merrifield secured political office for the first time in the 2020 provincial election, and has made it clear she is not a career politician.

She told Kelowna10 she wanted to break the mold of how current politicians are and has heard from people across the province on her campaign trail, they want something different.

“Government moves too slow and having someone who is proficient at moving slowly doesn’t make it a great experience,” she said. “I wanted to bring a pragmatic approach, I wanted to bring a different voice, I wanted to make sure that people understood that hope was real, and we can see government work a different way and that we can move forward in a different way.”

Last week, Merrifield sparked controversy on social media by supporting the contentious trucker convoy.

She wrote: “Making no reasonable accommodations for these truckers makes no sense. The truckers rally currently driving across Canada is what happens when politicians have lost sight of common-sense solutions and have turned instead to divisive language.”

Merrifield said the point she wanted to make is how people are tired and in disbelief of how there are still vaccine mandates despite most people following the rules.

The trucker convoy attracted many other voices from the far right of Canadian politics and prime minister Justin Trudeau attracted the ire of many protesters by initially dismissing their actions as featuring a ‘fringe minority’ with ‘unacceptable views.’

The Liberals, like all other political parties, will chose its next leader via the membership. Asked if it was a challenge to find the balance between appealing to paid up members while noting what the wider general public’s views about her will be after the vote, Merrifield said it’s all about building unity.

“We all agree we need to be safe, to be together and have normalcy. How we get there in the path to that, maybe we disagree on a little bit but ultimately, I’m a big believer in open dialogue and really building our common voice,” she said.

The leader will be elected by a ranked ballot process where registered voters choose their candidates in order of preference, ranking them from first to seventh. That means while Merrifield may not be the first choice for most, as the field is whittled down, she could emerge the winner with more than 50 per cent of the vote in the latter stages.

Merrifield noted past leaders Christy Clark and Andrew Wilkinson were not leading after the first round of voting.

“Not one of those was number one on the first ballot,” she said. “I definitely am working for everyone’s vote whether it’s number two, number three, or number four. So, on the ranked ballot, yes, I am working for everyone’s vote.”

Although she is the only woman running, she doesn’t see that affecting her chances in a positive or negative way.

“I just pay attention to being the absolute best voice piece and candidate and someone who is listening, having great conversations across B.C. and hopefully earning their vote,” she said.

Merrifield said if elected leader, she wants to focus on fixing the healthcare system as she put it, address housing affordability, and moving the economy forward.

She does have a message to the non-Liberal members in this province.

“It’s different now. And it’s going to be a different face, different voice, and a different way forward. It’s going to be B.C Liberals that they’ve never seen in this way before,” she said.

With files from The Canadian Press.

Published 2022-02-02 by Connor Chan

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