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Second candidate joins B.C. Liberal leadership contest

Gavin Dew joins MLA Ellis Ross for next year’s vote
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B.C. Liberal leadership candidate Gavin Dew (gavindew.ca)

Vancouver business consultant Gavin Dew has announced his bid for the B.C. Liberal leadership, to be decided in a party vote in February 2022.

Dew ran unsuccessfully for the party in the 2017 election in Vancouver-Mt. Pleasant, which he describes as “B.C.’s staunchest NDP riding.” The seat was won by the NDP’s Melanie Mark, now tourism, arts and culture minister in the majority NDP government that was formed in the unscheduled October 2020 election.

Dew joins Skeena MLA Ellis Ross as the second declared candidate in the leadership contest. Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone and Prince George Mackenzie MLA Mike Morris have ruled themselves out for the leadership.

In his announcement March 31, Dew described his work as founder of the Forum for Millennial Leadership, a non-partisan organization to encourage a younger generation of leaders. He referred to Premier John Horgan’s remarks on Monday, where Horgan announced new COVID-19 restrictions and told people aged 20 to 39, “don’t blow it for the rest of us.”

“The premier’s tone-deaf remarks this week show the need for a leader who respects young people, understands the complex issues they are facing, and doesn’t play generational politics to score political points,” Dew said.

Dew’s bid for the leadership is endorsed by Matt Toner, former deputy leader of the B.C. Green Party, and retired West Vancouver B.C. Liberal MLA Ralph Sultan, a former engineer and bank executive.

Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond is interim leader of the B.C. Liberals, official opposition in the legislature, until a new leader is selected in a party vote early next year.

RELATED: Skeena MLA Ellis Ross first to declare for leadership

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@tomfletcherbc
tfletcher@blackpress.ca

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