Electoral success for the B.C. Conservative party begins with reconnecting with its grassroots, according to leadership candidate Dan Brooks.
"We need to pull the conservatives across B.C. back into the party and say we need to take back B.C.," he said. "We need to rescue B.C. from the Liberals and the NDP."
Brooks will be in Prince George on Wednesday night for a meet and greet event with local party members at the Carmel restaurant at 6:30 p.m. His visit is part of a trip through the central interior which began in Vanderhoof on Tuesday evening and includes stops in Quesnel, Williams Lake and 100 Mile House on Thursday.
John Cummins stepped down as Conservative leader after May's election and Brooks was the first declared candidate in the race to replace him. He's up against Vancouver businessman Rick Peterson with a leadership vote set for April 11.
In addition to empowering grassroots democracy, Brooks' campaign is focused on fiscal responsibility and the rural resource economy.
A longtime Vanderhoof resident, Brooks moved to Kamloops to launch his leadership bid and hired a manager to run Crystal Lake Resort, his family's outfitting business.
He said his understanding to the rural areas of the province and his knowledge of resource issues will help him connect with potential voters in the interior, the north and northern Vancouver Island - regions he sees as keys to the party's future success.
The Conservatives failed to win a seat in the legislature in May's election and Brooks himself placed third in Nechako Lakes. But he said the party was still a factor because he believes it forced the Liberal party to move more towards the right.
"We didn't win a single seat, but we had a huge impact in the outcome of the election," he said. "We took the entire political spectrum to the right, just by our very presence in the election. If we weren't there you would have got NDP and NDP-lite."
While there are some policy differences between Brooks and Peterson, the fight for the party leadership hinges on who is best positioned to rebuild the organization and make it a viable alternative to the Liberals, NDP and Green parties. Brooks points to his experience living and working in the north, while Peterson touts his business connections and ability to fundraise.
Brooks said the party needs to prove to people in the province that it's ready to take power.
"I believe that what we have to do as the underdog in politics, is we have to have everything in place well in advance," Brooks said. "We have to have our candidates in place a year in advance, we have to have our platform in place a year in advance, we have to have all our policies in place a year in advance, we have to have a shadow government in place a year in advance."
Brooks is also emphasizing the need for strong internal organization, process and communication.
"Those are the things the Conservative party lacked in the last election and it's one of the reasons we lost and didn't win a single seat," he said. "We've got to reverse those failures, address them and move forward."
