He's been a cabinet minister, a mountain-biking fanatic and a "champion diaper-changer," but Kevin Falcon wants to be one more thing: premier of British Columbia.
The admitted underdog recently sat down with CTV's Mike Killeen to make his case to lead the BC Liberals in the first of four profiles leading up to Saturday's leadership conference.
Falcon admits that he's trailing frontrunner Christy Clark in the leadership race, but adds, "I like to think I'm sort of second and moving up to first."
A poll released exclusively to CTV News and the Globe and Mail Monday puts Falcon as the third most popular leadership candidate, with 27 per cent of surveyed British Columbians saying he'd be the right choice to replace outgoing Premier Gordon Campbell. Clark took the top spot with 42 per cent, followed by George Abbott (30 per cent) and Mike de Jong (26 per cent).
During his 10 years as an MLA Surrey-Cloverdale, Falcon has served as minister of state for deregulation, minister of transportation and minister of health.
But the candidate told CTV News that what sets him apart from the other hopefuls is his strength in uniting Liberals from across the political spectrum.
"I think I have the ability to keep our coalition together, because our party is a coalition of people that support federal Liberals and federal Conservatives. We want to keep all these people together under the BC Liberal tent," Falcon said.
"But I also think I have a reputation for getting things done, and I think at the end of the day, whether it's Canada Line or Sea-to-Sky [Highway] or innovation in the health system, people do want to get results out of their leaders."
He acknowledged that he has been a part of Premier Gordon Campbell's cabinet during some of the Liberals' most disliked decisions -- particularly the wildly unpopular harmonized sales tax.
But Falcon says that provoking protests and angering voters is just part of the job.
"If you're going into public life hoping not to ever make unpopular decisions, you really should pick another career, because this is a career that requires you sometimes to make difficult decisions. I've always tried to do the right thing, not necessarily the easy thing," he said.
Despite being involved in some unpopular policies, Falcon believes that he can bring British Columbians back to the party by telling it like it is.
"I've got a reputation as being someone that's pretty plain-spoken; I sort of say it as I see it. I actually think that's a long way to go to start to bring people involved, by just being candid about things, not dissembling or trying to be too cute in your answers -- just telling the truth as you see it," he said.
The opposition NDP has specifically targeted Falcon as a far-right-winger, calling him an "extremist who looks up to ultra-conservative leaders" on the website falconkidding.me.
But Falcon denies that he's a conservative hardliner, telling CTV News, "I have always tried to make decisions not based on ideological issues."
He also wants voters to know that there's another side to him. He says he's a "crazy mountain biker" who loves hiking and enjoys "raucous" arguments around the dining room table.
Falcon is also a new dad; he and his wife Jessica celebrated the birth of their first daughter Josephine just a little more than a year ago.
"I am a champion diaper-changer. I challenge anyone out there to try and take me on when it comes to diaper-changing," he said.
Liberal party members will vote for their next leader -- and B.C.'s newest premier -- at a convention on Saturday.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Mike Killeen
