The Liberal party has dropped former Burns Lake mayor Chris Beach as its candidate for Cariboo–Prince George, allegedly due to his past criticisms of former prime minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier David Eby.
In his place, the Liberals have acclaimed Clinton Emslie as their candidate. Emslie is a South African businessman, the CEO of ICL Rezolve Group Inc. and the recipient of the former prime minister’s Community Leadership Award.
Beach served as mayor of Burns Lake from 2016 to 2018 and has also worked as a political analyst. He was a member of the now-defunct B.C. Liberals.
On March 27, the Liberal party announced that Beach had been acclaimed as its candidate for the riding Beach said he had rejoined the party due to his support for new Liberal Leader Mark Carney.
“The Liberals will join the contest for Cariboo-Prince George with candidate, Chris Beach, acclaimed for the nomination. Beach recently rejoined the party because of the fiscal strengths of the new leader, Mark Carney,” the March 27 release said.
However, just over a week later, the Liberals issued a new acclamation notice, naming Emslie as the Liberal candidate for Cariboo–Prince George.
On Facebook, Beach said that the Liberal party only told him he would be dropped from the ballot but offered no explanation.
“I regret to let everyone know that I just received an email from the Liberal Party telling me I’ve been rejected as a candidate… without any explanation after having been told repeatedly I was the one and only candidate for the Liberal party in Cariboo-Prince George,” said Beach.
He attributed his removal to previous criticisms of Trudeau and Eby.
“The only plausible explanation that I can come up with at this point is that I was too critical of former Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and current Premier, David Eby, in my past history as an active BC Liberal Party member & TV & Radio Political Analyst,” said Beach.
“Like former BC Liberal Premier Christy Clark, I have been passed on by the Liberal Party for former Green Party candidates & former NDP MLAs.”
Beach said that he respects the Liberals’ right to appoint a candidate of their choosing, but would have hoped the acclamation process was more transparent and honest.
True North reached out to Beach and the Liberal party for comment, though they did not respond.
While Cariboo–Prince George is widely viewed as a safe seat for the Conservative party, 338Canada estimates that the Liberals have more than doubled their support in the riding, largely driven by the collapse of the NDP’s support. In the 2015 election, the Liberals came within five points of winning the riding.
Emslie will run against incumbent Conservative MP Todd Doherty and NDP candidate Angie Bonazzo.