George Abbott is a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. He represents the riding of Shuswap, which he has held since 1996. He was re-elected three times in 2001, 2005, and most recently on May 12, 2009.
Since taking office in 1996, George Abbott has held five cabinet posts spanning a number of significant portfolios. Most recently, he was appointed Minister of Education and Deputy House Leader on October 25, 2010.
What has George Abbott had to say:
· The BC Liberal government is in the "ditch of public opinion" and needs time to regain the trust of voters before calling another election, leadership candidate George Abbott says. "I frankly think that the B.C. Liberal party and the B.C. Liberal government is, at this point, at a pretty low point in the ditch of public opinion," he said.
· “I believe we are not going to turn this around and win back the trust of the people of BC in a week, a month or even a year. We have a lot of work to do as a party and government to reconnect with the people. We have to acknowledge the anger… (and) when you get through the anger then you start to hear the ideas. It’s time for the government of BC to listen to people once again. We have to stop being a top-down government. We have to work from the bottom up.”
· "I do believe that there is a significant and deep-seated anger among the electorate today," he said. "I don't think it is any one thing that we do out of Victoria that's going to persuade people that we're now on their side."
What have others had to say:
· NDP finance critic Bruce Ralston said Abbott is no different from Campbell and that it would be "business as usual" within the Liberal government. "He's endorsed every Gordon Campbell decision for the last nine years," Ralston said. "It would be impossible for him to separate himself from Campbell's record.”
What do I have to say?
Again if George Abbott has sat at the same cabinet table for the past 10 years, and not said a word in disagreement to Gordon Campbell, how can we except a government led by him to be any different?
Mike de Jong is a lawyer in his mid-40s who was raised in the Matsqui area. He attended high school in Abbotsford’s and was elected student council president. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree at Carleton University and a law degree from the University of Alberta.
After graduating, he returned to Abbotsford, where he joined a local law firm and won election to the school board. In 1994 he won election to the provincial legislature by defeating Social Credit legend Grace McCarthy in a by-election.
He has been re-elected every in every provincial election where he has served as Attorney-General, government House Leader, Solicitor-General, Minister of Aboriginal Relations, Minister of Labour, and Minister of Forests.
What has Mike had to say?
· the B.C. Liberal party isn’t “exactly standing at the apex of our popularity.”
· “We went to the town fair with a product that we told people was a thoroughbred horse and they decided it was a pig,” de Jong told reporters. “And I don’t know that you’re going to make much difference putting lipstick on the pig at this point. I think people have decided their view on the HST and we have to respect that.”
· saying that while he was “proud” to have been a member of Campbell’s government for the last 10 years, it was time to move on. “We have a big job ahead of us rebuilding trust and the sense of trust British Columbians have in the government,” he said.
What have others had to say?
· He compares de Jong to Yosemite Sam. "He's hoping that this guns blazing style is going to win him support within the Liberal Party and I think it will to a certain extent and if either of the top front-runners falter to the point that it leaves enough gap in the middle that de Jong may be the candidate that the right wing of the party will fall to rather than have Clark get elected." (former Liberal leader Gordon Wilson)
What do I have to say?
Who in the race to become leader of the BC Liberals is showing themselves to be any different? Mike de Jong has said the things he know people want to hear about having a vision, and saying that an open and accountable government is critical to restoring public trust and confidence. Again hasn’t he been in caucus the past 10 years. The same people are running to be leader, that have been part of government for the past decade. If Mike wins, it’s still business as usual.
I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops, and those are the thoughts of one conservative.
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