Abbott makes second stop in Fort St. John

Photo: Liberal leadership candidate George Abbott (second from right) made a final visit to Fort St. John to help garner more support for his campaign ahead of Saturday’s vote./Kimberley Molina

Liberal leadership candidate George Abbott has made one final visit to the Peace River area ahead of Saturday’s leadership vote.

Abbott visited both Dawson Creek and Fort St. John on Monday. He is only the second candidate to visit the area more than once since the race began.

Only four candidates remain in the race after both Moira Stilwell and Ed Mayne stepped out of the race last week. However, after withdrawing, Stilwell and Mayne both announced they were supporting Abbott in the leadership race.

Abbott says although his support has been consistently growing, having their support has given his campaign some positive momentum during the final days of the race.

The implementation of the controversial Harmonized Sales Tax has been a major discussion topic throughout the leadership race. Abbott says he admits the government’s failure to properly explain the HST.

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Abbott says the provincial government should have been more open about the financial difficulties the province was facing, as well as the “ugly alternatives” it had to the HST. He says the alternatives included the possibility of raising taxes or allowing the province to have an even larger deficit than it does currently.

The new Liberal leader will be determined on Saturday under a new voting system that gives every provincial riding an equal number of votes.