BC Liberal leadership candidates are rolling out endorsements from current caucus members as a sign of strength in the lead-up to the February 26 vote.
But don’t expect influential former Attorney General Wally Oppal to wade into the fray. He is staying neutral.
“I’ve deliberately stayed out of it. I can’t comment because I’m heading the Pickton inquiry. I have to be independent. The government has assigned me to do this job so I can’t get involved in the leadership race,” Oppal told Business in Vancouver.
Oppal said he sees strengths in all of the candidates and that each would make a great premier.
At last count, George Abbott leads with 14 committed current caucus colleagues. Kevin Falcon has 13. Christy Clark has one supporter while both Mike de Jong and Moira Stilwell have yet to attract any support from caucus colleagues.
De Jong announced on September 28 that Oppal would head the inquiry into the police investigation of former pig farmer and convicted murderer Willie Pickton.
The B.C. government announced the inquiry in early September after Pickton lost an appeal against his six murder convictions and the Crown stayed 20 other murder charges.
The inquiry is expected to probe how dozens of women disappeared from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and how Pickton was able to prey on them despite warnings a serial killer could be on the loose.
Oppal was defeated in the May 2009 election.