Of the 40 or so people who turned out to see Liberal leadership hopeful Kevin Falcon in Nelson yesterday, only three were women.
Falcon, however, brushed aside a suggestion that may reflect his support base.
“Oh gosh, no. I just held a very successful event with women leaders,” he said.
“We had over 60 turn out. When you’re building a campaign, you’re trying to get support from every sector.”
The former health minister is considered the frontrunner among the party membership, although polls suggest the public prefers Christy Clark.
Falcon disagrees with that assessment.
“I think this meeting in Nelson is a good example of what I’m seeing across the province,” he told reporters.
“We have been getting incredible turnouts at the events I’ve been attending.
“This leadership race isn’t about the public at large or an on-line poll. This is about the members of the party deciding who’s going to be the best person, not just to have high name recognition, but to keep our coalition together and lead the elected members.”
Falcon and Clark traded jabs this week, after she questioned his trumpeting of business supporters, saying it diminished the value of other groups.
Falcon responded that it was something he’d expect from the NDP, but not a fellow Liberal leadership candidate.
“I think it’s better if we focus on keeping our party unified, instead of attacking colleagues,” he said.
“A lot of these [supporters] are small business operators …helping sign up members, and I think it’s wonderful that we’ve engaged community and business leaders like that. I think that should be welcomed, not criticized.”
Asked why he was touring West Kootenay, where paid-up Liberal members are sparse, he replied that the party’s proposed equal-weight voting system means “every leadership candidate is going to have to demonstrate they are familiar with the issues in the Kootenays.
“I want a voting system that makes sure whoever wins was able to demonstrate they can get support from every part of the province, including Nelson, Castlegar, and the entire Kootenays, West and East,” he said.
Falcon spoke off the cuff for the better part of an hour to the crowd at the Baker Street Inn, then took questions on health care, mining, and the HST.
The Surrey-Cloverdale MLA was joined by forests minister Pat Bell, one of his supporters.
Falcon is the fourth leadership candidate to visit Nelson after Christy Clark, George Abbott, and Mike DeJong.
The leadership vote is February 26.