BC Liberal Leadership 2011

Watch CTV News on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 5 p.m. as we begin two hour live coverage of Leadership 2011 - A Special CTV News presentation.

Click above to watch CTV News on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. as we begin two hours of live coverage in BC Liberal Leadership 2011, a special CTV News presentation.

We will be providing live results of the BC Liberal membership vote, hosted by CTV News at Six Anchors Mike Killeen and Tamara Taggart.

Joining Mike and Tamara will be our political panel ready for instant reaction and context:

CTV's Victoria Bureau Chief Jim Beatty and CTV Senior Reporter Rob Brown will be reporting from the floor at the Liberal leadership meeting in the new Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre. CTV Investigative Reporter Mi-Jung Lee will crunch the polling numbers with pollster Mario Canseco of Angus Reid Public Opinion.

CTV British Columbia will also stream Leadership 2011 live on ctvbc.ca and online reporters will be filing stories in real time from the floor of the convention.

You can also follow us for instant updates as they happen on Twitter and join the conversation as developments break on our Facebook page.

For mobile users, visit m.ctv.ca/bc for the latest Leadership 2011 stories.

Check back often for the latest breaking news updates on all the action as Liberal delegates vote in B.C.'s next premier.

Candidate Profile – George Abbott

George Abbott may not know what a bucket list is, but he says his ability to work well with other people makes him the best candidate to lead the BC Liberals.

The candidate for B.C.'s next premier sat down with CTV's Tamara Taggart in the second of four profiles of the leadership candidates.

Abbott has the backing of 19 Liberal MLAs -- the most of any candidate -- and former leadership hopefuls Moira Stilwell and Ed Mayne both joined his camp after dropping out of the race.

He attributes that popularity to playing well with others.

"I've always been able to work well with people. I think if I have a modest talent, it is in leading people to work well together. I think I've certainly demonstrated that as regional district chair for over a decade. I think I demonstrated that well in the ministry of health," Abbott told CTV News.

The Shuswap MLA has held his riding since 1996, and headed five ministries during his tenure. In the latest cabinet shuffle in October, he was named minister of education, a position he relinquished after announcing his candidacy for party leader.

Abbott says that he anticipates many challenges if he is chosen to replace Premier Gordon Campbell at the leadership convention on Saturday.

"Clearly, many of the issues around resolution of harmonized sales tax versus provincial sales tax -- that's important. I think we are just now coming out of what has been quite a serious recession for British Columbia. We're seeing some good growth in the economy, but not as strong as we would like yet," he said.

Outside of his work in the legislature, Abbott says he turns to sports for fun.

"Fly fishing's definitely a big passion in my life," he said. "I love golf, despite the fact that I do it so very badly and demonstrate that all too frequently. I try to keep myself physically fit. These are the kind of things that I enjoy in life, along with cross-country and downhill skiing."

Physical activity is also a stress reliever for the MLA.

"I find going to the gym to be one of the best ways to relieve stress. I get on the Nordic cross trainer and bang away on there for half an hour, 45 minutes, do some free weights, and usually you can deal with stress most effectively by working out," he said.

Education is at the top of Abbott's "bucket list" of things to accomplish before he dies, although he was confused by the term.

"Now what would a bucket list be?" he asked.

After a brief explanation, Abbott said he had already accomplished one major goal.

"I ran a marathon a couple of years ago -- that was on my bucket list," he said. "I've thought of getting a doctorate in political science -- that may be on my bucket list. Depending on how things go in the next few weeks, I may just have to try to get an honourary degree someday."

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Tamara Taggart

Candidate Profile – Christy Clark

BC Liberal leadership candidate Christy Clark says she will call an election if she is chosen to be the next premier of British Columbia in this weekend's vote.

In a sit down interview with CTV News at Six anchor Tamara Taggart, Clark said she doesn't have a fixed date in mind but it would be in advance of the 2013 provincial election.

The candidate said she won't call the election before the New Democrats have a new leader in place.

‘That's not fair play," she said.

The former deputy premier and talk radio host is the most popular with Liberal voters and British Columbians alike to take over for outgoing Premier Gordon Campbell.

Forty-two-per-cent of those polled in an Angus Reid Public Opinion poll commissioned by CTV News this week said Clark would be the right choice for the job, followed by George Abbott (30 per cent), Kevin Falcon (27 per cent) and Mike de Jong (26 per cent).

Her popularity numbers are even more impressive when looking at people who voted for the BC Liberals in 2009.

But Clark's race for the province's top job has not been without controversy. Detractors claim the candidate is an opportunist who is only interested in being premier, something she vehemently denies.

"I've done a lot of other jobs. I spent five years in the opposition fighting the NDP. And then I spent four years cleaning up after those guys," she said.

"I haven't been on a track where I've spent every day thinking how I could be premier one day. In fact if Gordon Campbell hadn't resigned I would have quite happy to stay in broadcasting for many more years."

Clark says she's unsure whether she will return to radio if she doesn't win this weekend, but her job is there if she wants it.

She says she's the only candidate who is not getting paid every two weeks by taxpayers and that finances are a major concern in her race for premier.

"I'm living off my savings to do this. If I lose, I still don't have a paycheque coming in. I have to think about how I'm going to put food table for Hamish."

Clark says her team is talking about matching the working tax credit as part of her Family First campaign to put money back into the pockets of poor families.

"It's for people who are the working poor to give them a leg up and give it straight to their bottom line," she said.

A working parent who shares joint custody of her son, Clark says she is well aware of the struggle to balance the roles of mother and politician – and will stand up to the demands.

"I was deputy premier, minister of education and vice-chair of treasury board – doing all those three roles when Hamish was just an infant," she said.

"Any mom knows when your child is an infant they are consuming more of your time than any other time on your lives. It's not as onerous now as it was as he was little."

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Tamara Taggart

Candidate Profile – Mike de Jong

Mike de Jong loves to talk in hockey metaphors, and he says he wants to put B.C. on a power play by reducing the deficit if he's elected leader of the BC Liberals.

The MLA for Abbotsford West sat down with CTV's Mike Killeen to explain why he should be the next premier in the third of four profiles leading up to Saturday's leadership conference.

He says that a big priority for a de Jong government would be balancing the provincial books.

"It's pretty easy to talk about how we're going to spend money," de Jong said. "I happen to be from that school that says we better talk about how we're going to create wealth in the province. We still have a problem in B.C.; we still have a deficit -- $1.7 billion -- and not a lot has been said about that, but it does need to be talked about, because it's got to be our first priority."

He started off in politics as a school trustee at the age of 26, and has been a member of the provincial legislature since 1994. During his tenure, he's served as government house leader, solicitor general, attorney general and minister of three other portfolios.

But he doesn't have the endorsement of a single sitting cabinet minister. De Jong says that's because he has focused on building relationships with constituents instead of politicians.

"I actually don't want to be the leader of a party or a government where those decisions are made by politicians," he said. "

"The hiring here is going to be done by the people, and to have had upwards of 12,000 plus accept my invitation to join the party as compared to 30 or 40 politicians, I'm okay with that."

He would also like to see a reduced cabinet, and "that's not a position that necessarily endears you to one's colleagues."

In his spare time, de Jong says he likes to watch and even play hockey, although getting out on the ice isn't as easy as it used to be.

He uses his love of the sport to explain how he plans to regain the trust of British Columbians after a series of fiascos that shook the most recent Liberal government.

"You rebuild trust one play at a time, one shift at a time," de Jong said. "There's going to be tough times, you're going to have to play some penalties, and hopefully once in a while you'll go on a power play. Here's what I do know: the players on my team, including the folks campaigning, all of us have to recognize that we are playing on the same team."

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Mike Killeen

Candidate Profile – Kevin Falcon

He's been a cabinet minister, a mountain-biking fanatic and a "champion diaper-changer," but Kevin Falcon wants to be one more thing: premier of British Columbia.

The admitted underdog recently sat down with CTV's Mike Killeen to make his case to lead the BC Liberals in the first of four profiles leading up to Saturday's leadership conference.

Falcon admits that he's trailing frontrunner Christy Clark in the leadership race, but adds, "I like to think I'm sort of second and moving up to first."

A poll released exclusively to CTV News and the Globe and Mail Monday puts Falcon as the third most popular leadership candidate, with 27 per cent of surveyed British Columbians saying he'd be the right choice to replace outgoing Premier Gordon Campbell. Clark took the top spot with 42 per cent, followed by George Abbott (30 per cent) and Mike de Jong (26 per cent).

During his 10 years as an MLA Surrey-Cloverdale, Falcon has served as minister of state for deregulation, minister of transportation and minister of health.

But the candidate told CTV News that what sets him apart from the other hopefuls is his strength in uniting Liberals from across the political spectrum.

"I think I have the ability to keep our coalition together, because our party is a coalition of people that support federal Liberals and federal Conservatives. We want to keep all these people together under the BC Liberal tent," Falcon said.

"But I also think I have a reputation for getting things done, and I think at the end of the day, whether it's Canada Line or Sea-to-Sky [Highway] or innovation in the health system, people do want to get results out of their leaders."

He acknowledged that he has been a part of Premier Gordon Campbell's cabinet during some of the Liberals' most disliked decisions -- particularly the wildly unpopular harmonized sales tax.

But Falcon says that provoking protests and angering voters is just part of the job.

"If you're going into public life hoping not to ever make unpopular decisions, you really should pick another career, because this is a career that requires you sometimes to make difficult decisions. I've always tried to do the right thing, not necessarily the easy thing," he said.

Despite being involved in some unpopular policies, Falcon believes that he can bring British Columbians back to the party by telling it like it is.

"I've got a reputation as being someone that's pretty plain-spoken; I sort of say it as I see it. I actually think that's a long way to go to start to bring people involved, by just being candid about things, not dissembling or trying to be too cute in your answers -- just telling the truth as you see it," he said.

The opposition NDP has specifically targeted Falcon as a far-right-winger, calling him an "extremist who looks up to ultra-conservative leaders" on the website falconkidding.me.

But Falcon denies that he's a conservative hardliner, telling CTV News, "I have always tried to make decisions not based on ideological issues."

He also wants voters to know that there's another side to him. He says he's a "crazy mountain biker" who loves hiking and enjoys "raucous" arguments around the dining room table.

Falcon is also a new dad; he and his wife Jessica celebrated the birth of their first daughter Josephine just a little more than a year ago.

"I am a champion diaper-changer. I challenge anyone out there to try and take me on when it comes to diaper-changing," he said.

Liberal party members will vote for their next leader -- and B.C.'s newest premier -- at a convention on Saturday.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Mike Killeen