B.C. New Democrat leader Adrian Dix won’t join B.C. Premier Christy Clark in front of television cameras for a one-on-one debate, turning down her calls for a townhall meeting.
The challenge was issued this morning at a meeting of Liberal candidates.
Clark said the two party leaders have an obligation to debate their policies.
“I think people want a one on one debate where there is a real opportunity to be clear about where the two potential premiers’ stand on things. And so I think I hope he'll accept it because to do anything else would be to really demonstrate a lack of leadership," Clark said.
But Dix didn’t rise to the bait when asked about the debate at a film event Tuesday morning.
Instead, he said it wouldn’t be fair to the other parties for him to square off against Christy Clark by himself.
"I mean for the premier to go our and say that the green party leader and the conservative party leader should be excluded from the debates is so disrespectful to the hundreds of thousands of people who say they are considering voting for those parties,” Dix told reporters.
The television gathering would have been in addition to planned all-candidates debates including the leaders of the B.C. Conservative and Green parties.
With files from The Canadian Press
