Two decades of experience in the B.C. Legislature is an asset, not a liability, for a party seeking renewal.
That鈥檚 the pitch Abbotsford West MLA Mike de Jong is making to BC Liberals as his campaign to lead his party enters its final weeks.
Speaking to The News in a wide-ranging interview last week, de Jong pledged to focus on education initiatives and government decentralization. He also disavowed last year鈥檚 so-called 鈥渃lone speech鈥� that followed last year鈥檚 election, while predicting that British Columbia鈥檚 economy will fall into disrepair under an NDP government.
De Jong was first elected in 1994 and was a fixture of BC Liberal cabinets dating back to 2001. Prior to the BC Liberals ouster, he served for five years as Christy Clark鈥檚 Minister of Finance, one of the most-prominent roles in government.
But de Jong, who says the first job of a new leader 鈥渋s to re-energize our party鈥� is hoping BC Liberals will see that experience to be of value when they cast their votes in early February.
鈥淚 know what it takes to rebuild a party after an election loss,鈥� he said. And while he says he鈥檚 clearly not everybody鈥檚 first choice, de Jong is optimistic that the ranked ballot format will benefit him and allow him to pick up large numbers of second-choice votes.
As for appealing to the broader public, de Jong said his party shouldn鈥檛 try to be something they鈥檙e not.
鈥淚 think our record as a government and my record as a manager of the economy and a manager of the people鈥檚 money is solid,鈥� although he said the election shows not all were satisfied. 鈥淐learly we weren鈥檛 perfect.鈥�
But last June鈥檚 that seemed to borrow from policies touted by the Green Party and the NDP was a folly, de Jong now says.
Although a press release issued by Abbotsford鈥檚 MLAs at the time declared 鈥淭hrone Speech strikes a balance for Abbotsford and Mission,鈥� de Jong said last week that the speech was Clark鈥檚 creation.
鈥淚 think that document strayed too far from what I believe we represent as a party,鈥� he said. 鈥淔inance ministers write budgets and premiers write throne speeches and that particular throne speech is one that I don鈥檛 think could or should guide our party going forward.鈥�
As leader, de Jong said he鈥檇 focus on broadening the availability of education, by giving each child $500 a year to go into a Registered Education Savings Plan, and by providing kindergarten to four-year-old children. He also says the province should look at decentralizing ministries and agencies that would be better located outside of Victoria.
He noted that the Ministry of Agriculture, for one, 鈥渃ould function very well headquartered in Abbotsford.鈥�
The News also asked de Jong about comments made by his erstwhile BC Liberal colleague, Darryl Plecas, who was removed from the party after accepting an offer to become Speaker of the legislature.
with Clark and her leadership team for expressing views that differed from the party line. De Jong, who has been House Leader of the BC Liberals for years, said the party has consistently allowed free votes in the legislature and that the only requirement for party MLAs who disagree with policy is for advance notice.
Asked about his relationship with Plecas, de Jong said, cooly, that he has 鈥渢he respect for the office of speaker that the office requires.鈥�
