Premier's office promised to Prince George, B.C., by B.C. Liberal leadership hopefuls

B.C. Liberal leadership hopefuls are promising to move sections of government to Prince George should they become premier.

The pledges come after the final leadership hopeful from northern B.C., Peace River South MLA Mike Bernier, dropped out of the race in October.

Bernier threw his support behind former finance minister Mike de Jong, who on Thursday said he would permanently move the position of chief forester along with other operational aspects of the forests and lands ministry to Prince George.

"We can empower communities outside Victoria and Metro Vancouver by enhancing their role in the decision-making process," de Jongsaid in a statement, adding that he would also review other ministries to see if it made sense to locate jobs and offices to other parts of the province.

He cited the B.C. Lottery Corporation's headquarters in Kamloops as an example.

The party's second leadership debatetook place Saturday in Prince George.

On Friday, fellow leadership contender Andrew Wilkinson arrived in Prince George and promised to create an office for the premier and cabinet in Prince George.

"Too often, decisions on the future prosperity of northern B.C. are made in Victoria. It's time to change that," Wilkinson said.

The idea was endorsed by Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Mike Morris, who is backing Wilkinson's bid.

Geography versus leadership

A total of six candidates remain in the race to replace former premier Christy Clark.

On Thursday, Terrace businesswoman Lucy Sager withdrew from the race, throwing her support behind former DianneWatts, the former Conservative MP for Surrey-White Rock and former mayor.

Sager's departure leaves Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone as the only potential party leader not based in the Lower Mainland.

The other candidates are Vancouver-Langara MLA Michael Lee and Vancouver-False Creek and former Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan.

The race comes after a close provincial election campaign that saw the Liberals win the most seats but ultimately lose governing power after an agreement between the NDP and Greens allowed NDP leader John Horgan to become premier.

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Liberal party members have spoken about an urban-rural divide in the provinceand criticized Horganfor not understanding the needs of British Columbians outside the Lower Mainland, althoughNDP candidates won in some of the province's most rural ridings.

Party members and MLAs have also raised concerns that electoral reform promised by Horgan will hurt rural and northern B.C. communities.

Bernier attributed partof his decision to leave the race to an inability to break through to Lower Mainland voters, adding thatleadership is more important than locationwhen selecting a leader.

The idea of decentralizing government has been put forward before. When he was running to replace Gordon Campbell, Kevin Falcon promiseda premier's office in Prince George.

Falconplaced second to Christy Clark.

When Clark was asked about moving government jobs to different parts of the province during the 2017 campaign, she said she would prefer to create more private-sector opportunities.

The Liberal Party will select a new leader in February.