The British Columbia Liberal Party's provincial election campaign faced some distractions Saturday after the NDP called on John van Dongen to step down over his poor driving record.

Reporters learned on Friday that van Dongen - the minister responsible for ICBC - has been handed a driving prohibition for receiving an excessive number of tickets.

He has received so many that he couldn't provide a number during an interview with CTV News on Friday.

While campaigning in the East Kootenays, NDP leader Carole James was quick to jump on the issue.

"Certainly I believe that Mr. van Dongen should step out,'' she said. "I think Gordon Campbell should step in and remove him from his position."

But that wasn't the only embarrassment that Campbell is having to deal with as the election campaign moved to the Victoria suburb of Saanich on Saturday.

Then there was Marc Dalton, the Liberal candidate in Maple Ridge-Mission having to apologize for a 12-year-old email in which he compared homosexuality to other moral issues like adultery and gambling.

And if that wasn't enough, there's Jesse McClinton in the riding of Victoria-Swan Lake. Three years ago, he was charged with drinking and driving.

"Hopefully people will forgive me,'' he said. "I know lots of people make mistakes in their life. It's definitely a mistake that I made and I'd like to move forward from it."

All of that has Gordon Campbell on the defensive.

"Everybody makes mistakes in their lives and I think the critical thing is to stand up and be accountable for them,'' he said.

But despite the fact that all of the questions from reporters were on the controversies, Campbell insisted that he hasn't lost his focus.

"I think people are focusing on the main issues in this campaign,'' he said. "They are focusing on what, you know who is best to get us through these challenging times and come out on the other side."

That's the way Gordon Campbell sees it, we'll have to wait until May12th to see if the majority of voters feel the same way.

With a report by CTV British Columbia's Stephen Smart