Seven candidates are vying for the leadership of the BC Liberal Party as online and telephone voting begins to choose a new leader. (BC Liberals)

By The Canadian Press

British Columbia Liberals to begin voting for a new leader

Feb 3, 2022 | 12:56 PM

VICTORIA — Online and telephone voting is scheduled to start today for the next leader of the B.C. Liberal party.

There are seven candidates running for the leadership, including legislature members Michael Lee, Ellis Ross and Renee Merrifield; business leaders Gavin Dew, Val Litwin and Stan Sipos; and Kevin Falcon, a former B.C. cabinet minister.

Meanwhile, party member Vikram Bajwa has asked the B.C. Supreme Court in a petition to delay the scheduled release of the leadership results on Saturday for 15 days while the party provides details of a membership audit it conducted.

Party spokesman David Wasyluk says the party will be in court on Friday to respond to the petition, but it believes it has taken reasonable steps to determine that new members are eligible to vote.

The party gained more than 20,000 members during the leadership process.

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Wasyluk says 1,140 of those were found not to be in compliance, while another 1,423 memberships were still being confirmed.

The party is voting to replace Andrew Wilkinson, who resigned as leader following the party’s defeat in the 2020 provincial election.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2022.