The finish line is in sight for the B.C. Liberals who want to be premier, as they enter into the final week of vying for votes before the party chooses a new leader.
All the candidates are vigorously drumming up delegate support and each campaign has volunteers working the phones, asking Liberal party members to vote for their candidate on Feb. 26.
Kevin Falcon received an endorsement Friday from a political heavyweight, Finance and Health Minister Colin Hansen.
Hansen said he had the obligation as the minister of finance to remain independent until after his budget was tabled on Tuesday.
He said many party members had been questioning him about who he planned to back, but he said he only made up his mind this week to support Falcon.
"I wrestled with my decision, because I think we have four excellent candidates. I think any one of them would make a first-class premier in the coming decade."
Hansen told the media he's watched Falcon over the years excel in his various cabinet portfolios.
"He showed leadership, he showed a depth of understanding, he showed the ability to sit down and learn from others," Hansen said, referring to Falcon's term as health minister.
Hansen is a longtime member of the B.C. Liberal party, joining in 1969 at the age of 17.
Falcon said the endorsement of a member so well respected within the party is a huge shot in the arm for his campaign.
"Because I know that there are a lot of undecided members of the B.C. Liberal party out there still that are going to be making their decision in the coming week."
The four remaining candidates will meet Saturday for a debate hosted by Shaw TV, to be recorded and broadcast Sunday at 5 p.m.
Candidate Christy Clark used the spectacular backdrop of the Capilano Suspension Bridge to make a promise Friday for a new tourism partnership if she becomes premier.
The former cabinet minister and radio talk show host pointed out that the current provincial government acted without consultation in disposing of Tourism BC, and the industry needs a long-range marketing plan.
"Tourism is a $13-billion industry in the province and with the right, collaborative approach we can continue to grow the industry," she said in a news release.
Leadership contender George Abbott appealed to outdoor enthusiasts with a promise to boost the provincial budget for parks and protected areas next year by 10 per cent, and eliminate day-use parking fees in all major provincial parks. He also committed to return 100 per cent of the angling license revenues to enhancing fisheries and establishing a new junior fishing license for anglers aged 16 to 18.
Karen Cook, Abbott's spokeswoman, said he will travel the province in the coming week "to meet with as many B.C. Liberal members as possible."
Falcon said he'll make sure all of his supporters, including Hansen, will be out talking to undecided party members this week.
"I just humbly ask for their support," he said.
The No. 1 priority for Mike de Jong's campaign over the next week will be getting out the vote, said spokesman Doug McClelland.
De Jong has pland to visit the Okanagan and the Lower Mainland.
"He will be spending as much time as possible phoning individual members, particularly undecided party members," McClelland said.
Earlier this week, Liberal candidates Moira Stilwell and Ed Mayne quit the contest for premier and put their support behind Abbott.
The provincial New Democrats, who are in the midst of their own leadership contest, attacked the Liberal contenders and their promises.
"Are you Falcon kidding me?" quipped NDP provincial secretary Jan O'Brien, calling the Liberal candidate a "political extremist."
The official Opposition also lambasted Abbott's promise to protect parks, saying the B.C. Liberal government he was part of gutted the provincial parks system.
Liberal delegates will cast their ballots for the Liberal leader online or by phone for the first time for the Feb. 26 leadership convention.
