Former Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Pat Bell believes Mike de Jong is best suited to be the BC Liberals new leader.
He was the longtime finance minister under Christy Clark executing several balanced budgets during his tenure.
With BC currently in a trade battle with the United States over its softwood lumber, Bell says de Jong’s previous experience as forest minister is a huge advantage.
“There is no question that Mike de Jong Long is the best of all six candidates in terms of his understanding of the forest industry and his ability to negotiate trade agreements, no one has the credentials that Mike de Jong has, so when you’re in a trade dispute like we are right now, I know who I would like at the table.”
De Jong served as BC’s Forest Minister from 2001 to 2005.
Bell believes the Abbotsford-West MLA’s vast experience level with several portfolios will only strengthen his chances.
“Knowing that he can balance the budget and probably more importantly knowing that he understands rural BC as he spent 4 years as forest minister and has travelled rural BC extensively and really laid the groundwork for a lot of the good things that happened in China over the years.”
BC’s strong economic leadership under the Liberals reign could quickly re-appear with de Jong at the helm if he’s able to first win the leadership vote and then supplant John Horgan as premier.
“I think all of those things would carry on under a Mike de Jong government and in fact, we’re seeing the NDP begrudgingly admitting now that many of the things we did on the jobs plan are working and are creating wealth for British Columbians,” added Bell.
Sam Sullivan, Todd Stone, Diane Watts, Michael Lee and Andrew Wilkinson are the other five candidates vying for the job.
The leadership election is on Saturday.
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