With less than a week to election day and polls tightening, Premier Christy Clark made a pit stop in Maple Ridge Wednesday to boost the B.C. Liberal campaign.
A throng of supporters welcomed the premier to Marc Dalton’s campaign office, where she delivered a rousing speech as a screen broadcasting the “NDP Spend-O-Metre” rolled dollars signs out of control.
“Do we grow our economy? Do we keep it strong or do we take another path and put it all at risk?” shouted Clark to applause and loud cheers.
“That’s the question we have in front of us on May 14. Do we say yes to growing our economy? Do we say yes to government spending?”
A new poll commissioned by the Times Colonist newspaper released Thursday indicates the New Democratic Party’s lead has narrowed to just four percentage points.
According to Oracle Research Ltd., if an election were held today, 41 per cent of those polled would back the B.C. NDP while 37 per cent would vote to re-elect the B.C. Liberals.
Wednesday’s trip to Maple Ridge was the third time Clark has visited the area since the end of March.
Two weeks ago, she attended a similar campaign rally for Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows candidate Doug Bing.
Clark dismissed suggestions that Dalton and Bing needed her help to raise their profile locally.
Bing is a first time provincial candidate, while Dalton won a slim victory in Maple Ridge -Mission during the last election, with a 68-vote margin.
“I’ve been to lots of riding since mid-March because I’m working as hard as I absolutely can to support our candidates across the province,” said Clark.
“I think Marc Dalton has done an absolutely sterling job of representing this community and I want to support him. Doug has been a great member of this community for a long time so I wanted to be here to support both of them in their race to become MLAs. I need them in Victoria if we are going to grow the economy and keep government spending under control.”
For Linda Cucek, a Mission resident and volunteer on Dalton’s campaign, Clark’s visit was a shot in the arm as election day draws near.
She gave the premier a hand-made turquoise necklace and a photograph she took two weeks ago at the rally in Pitt Meadows. “It was for luck,” said Cucek, explaining she chose turquoise to match Clark’s blue eyes. “I think she is the best premier.”
