By Greg Fry

Kamloops MLA confident in third or fourth ballot leadership victory

Jan 25, 2018 | 3:39 PM

KAMLOOPS — BC Liberal leadership hopeful Todd Stone of Kamloops is feeling confident heading into the final stretch of his party’s leadership campaign.

Three days of voting start February 1 and the winner will be decided at a party convention in Vancouver February 3.

“We’re feeling really good,” said Stone. “We’ve worked hard these past four and a half months criss-crossing the province literally tens of thousands of kilometres talking to Britsh Columbians about what are the issues that are impacting families in their respective communities and very proud of the bold vision we’ve put out there, the detailed ideas we’ve thrown on the table and the response we’ve received from folks.”

So, what makes him so confident?

“Our vote is really well spread across the province. We’ve signed up a lot of new members but that’s only half the battle,” Stone says. “The other half is being able to connect with the pre-existing membership base. I’ve been active in this party helping to build it for almost 30 years so I’m a well-known entity, I think very well respected and trusted.”

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He says Tuesday’s final leadership debate provided a good contrast between himself and the other candidates.

“You know, there were obviously a few people on the stage focused on the future and some on the stage who think it’s still 2013 and possibly still 2001.”

While not naming names, he says his focus on party renewal — namely reaching out to young people, women and to “more diverse folks” — will help win the day.

“Nobody’s going to win the vote on the first ballot, that’s very clear to me,” Stone says. “There are six people running and six strong candidates working their tails off right until the last minute to win this thing. So, I expect it’s going to be a three to four ballot victory at the end of the day.”

Stone has scheduled his final rally of his campaign for February 1 at the Sandman Centre. It starts at 6 p.m.