Critics are calling it a game of political football. In a riding many predict the Liberals could lose, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell unveiled plans for a new sports complex in Delta on Saturday. The facility has been in the works for years. But his opponents are asking why now?
When Campbell announced that the B.C. government is kicking in $17.5 million to help the Vancouver Whitecaps finance a new soccer centre in the Vancouver suburb, he described it as a major investment in the future of soccer.
But the offer comes with a catch.
It only stands if the Liberal Party is successful in the May 12th provincial election.
That has other candidates questioning the timing of the announcement.
Among them is Dileep Athaide, the NDP candidate in Delta South, a riding that has been fighting against new highways and power lines for years.
He accused Liberal Party rival Wally Oppal of trying to buy a seat in the riding. "And it's not going to work,'' he said.
Athaide is seen as the underdog. But he insists that the race is not over yet.
He is hoping that the voting will be split between Oppal and Vicki Huntington - who is running as an independent -- giving the NDP an opportunity to move up the middle.
But Oppal defended the plan to finance the soccer centre.
"The fact that it's happening during the campaign, I don't think that it's all that important,'' he said. "This is something that we're able to do as a team."
The Liberals say their numbers show they're doing well in Delta South. But that didn't prevent Campbell from leaving Saturday's press conference the same way he came in....in an unmarked van.
With a report by CTV British Columbia's St. John Alexander
