A fifth person has declared their candidacy for the BC Liberal Party leadership.
Former BC Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Val Litwin has said this morning he will seek party leadership.
Litwin joins former cabinet minister Kevin Falcon, Vancouver-Langara MLA Michael Lee, Skeena MLA Ellis Ross and businessman Gavin Dew as declared candidates. So far, only Falcon, Lee and Dew have filed paperwork.
The 43-year-old Litwin says social, economic and political challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic have led to him pursuing party leadership.
The Liberals will be electing a new leader on Feb. 5, to replace interim caucus leader Shirley Bond.
Bond took over after former leader Andrew Wilkinson resigned, after a disappointing election loss last fall where the Liberals fell from 41 to 28 seats in the Legislature. Wilkinson still holds a seat in the legislature, and is the only member of the Liberals with no shadow critic role. He has not taken any questions from media since before the election.
Meanwhile, Kamloops-South MLA Todd Stone has endorsed Falcon’s leadership campaign as of last week. Kamloops-North MLA Peter Milobar says he will not be endorsing any candidates, telling NL News is committed to staying neutral as House Leader of the party.
– with a file from The Canadian Press