The race to replace retiring B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell may be about to get crowded.
Attorney General Mike de Jong has said he'll announce his leadership intentions this week and the MLA for Abbotsford-West has called a news conference for Wednesday morning in his Fraser Valley riding.
Health Minister Kevin Falcon is expected to announce Tuesday that he's joining George Abbott and Moira Stilwell in the leadership contest.
Abbott won an endorsement on Monday from the party's youth wing.
Lindsay Gardner, vice-president of the BC Young Liberals, said Abbott will unite the party and the province because he listens and works hard to reach out to the grassroots.
Liberals across B.C. will select a new leader in balloting set for Feb. 26, 2011. British Columbians will return to the polls for a provincial election in the spring of 2013.
The public discord over the Liberals' disastrous unveiling of the harmonized sales tax has inspired the government's political opponents.
The province's top labour leader called on the union movement to help boot the Liberals from office in a rousing speech in Vancouver on Monday .
B.C. Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair told delegates to the federation's annual convention it's time for a change.
"We're going to have to dig deep and get out there and mobilize our members and make sure that when they count the ballots next time... we find out that we've sent them packing for at least four years because we can't afford them for another four decades," he said.
Meanwhile, Premier Gordon Campbell said Monday he still supports the 15-per cent income tax cut he promised in a televised address in October, a cut cancelled by the Liberal caucus after Campbell announced he was stepping down as leader.
The outgoing premier said the tax reduction has the potential to create 11,000 jobs in the province, but the next leader has to make the final decision.
"I think it's important when you decided that you're going to step aside and let someone else come on and take on the leadership of the party, not to try and bind their hands for the future but to say it's up to you," he said.
Campbell said the new premier can still implement the tax cut as long as it's in place before July.