BC Liberal Party Leader Andrew Wilkinson reacts to election call by premier

BC Liberal Party Leader Andrew Wilkinson didn’t mince words in his response to BC Premier John Horgan’s election announcement on Monday.

“Today John Horgan chose politics over people,” he said. “For no good reason whatsoever, we’re now being forced into a general election that nobody in BC wants, except the NDP.”

He charged that the “only reason” for the election “is to try and secure the jobs” of the NDP.

“We’ve got a government that is cynical enough to put us through a general election in the middle of a pandemic,” he continued. “We need leadership. We need guidance. We all know we’re in a global pandemic, we all know that employment’s at risk, we all know that people are worried about their health. This is the time for stability not time for politics.”

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However, now that the election has been called, Wilkinson says his party intends to “bring to this election an exciting vision for British Columbia,” and as part of this, “we’ll be rolling out an exciting new team of candidates, and we’ll be talking about things that really matter” to British Columbians.

“We’re in turbulent times. Everyone knows that,” he said. “We need to help and support each other, and this is not a time for cynical politics and division.”

Instead, he concluded, “this is a time to talk about a positive future for British Columbia.”

British Columbians will head to the polls on Saturday, October 24.