BC Liberals set guideposts to renew party after losing ground in election

B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson pauses while reading a statement at provincial election night headquarters, in Vancouver, B.C., Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Vancouver — The executive of the BC Liberal Party has met to set a road map for “rebuilding and renewal” after the party lost more than a dozen seats in the provincial election.

A statement from the party says the executive has decided the next steps will include immediately initiating an independent debrief of the campaign leading up to the Oct. 24 election.

It says that will include interviews with campaign team members and input from candidates, campaign managers and volunteers.

Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson announced a few days after the vote that he would leave as soon as a replacement was selected, and the party says it will appoint an election organizing committee to establish timing and rules for selecting the leader.

The statement says the party is also launching an outreach process that focuses on engaging under-represented groups in the party.

It says the process will foster honest conversations about the Liberal's future and explore alternative approaches to candidate nominations.

“These initiatives recognize that now is the time for serious and exciting debates about the party's principles, processes, and future - and the doors must be open to every British Columbian who wants a better future for our province,” says the statement issued on Friday.

When NDP Premier John Horgan called the election the two parties had 41 seats each. The New Democrats had been operating a minority government with the support of the Greens.

When final mail-in and absentee ballots were completed last Sunday the NDP had 57 of the 87 seats in the B.C. legislature, the Liberals had 28 seats and the Greens two.

One of the Liberal seats isn't firm. A judicial recount is pending after the Liberal and Green candidates were just 41 votes apart in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2020.