Liberal convention keeps things light
The B.C. Liberals took one last victory lap at their nostalgiafilled annual convention in Kelowna, squeezing every warm and fuzzy memory from last year's election win before the rough ride - and a school strike - begin.
Premier Christy Clark strode to the convention stage to thank party faithful for helping engineer last May's come-from-behind win at the polls, but warned that momentum only lasts so long.
"We all know we cannot count on momentum," she said.
"It is careful, purposeful, principled hard work that makes a different future a reality.
"We have spent this last year well, but we need to make sure those next three years ahead we work just as hard, because they will probably be even harder."
Clark was treated to 98.8 per cent endorsement of her leadership by members, and summed up the weekend party of 1,200 members by saying: "I have never seen a happier group of B.C. Liberals."
But the afterglow from the Liberal convention won't last long.
The government returns to Victoria today as the province's 41,000 teachers walk off the job in rotating strikes that will shut down schools throughout the province.
Liberal members voted Education Minister Peter Fassbender to a self-described "hot seat" questionand-answer session during the closing hours of the convention Sunday, where they quizzed him about the teachers' dispute, including the disagreement with the BCTF over class size and composition in classrooms.
"The class size issue is an oxymoron as far as I'm concerned, because all the research in the world says size does not determine outcomes," Fassbender said.
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Liberal convention keeps things light