Former BC Chamber of Commerce CEO Val Litwin hopes to bring a whole new attitude into the BC Liberal Party.
At 44, he's relatively young, and he believes that the road to recovery for the province and the party has to be focused on youth.
Litwin's criticism of our current batch of BC Liberals is scathing.
"They're out of date and out of touch," he said after he arrived for meetings in Kelowna.
"Sixty-one percent of the population in this province is under the age of 40, so we need to welcome in a new, young, diverse group of people into the political institutions that run this province."
Litwin joins a six-person race for the BC Liberal Leadership.
Also running are presumed front-runner Kevin Falcon, who served as finance minister under Premier Gordon Campbell, and MLA's Ellis Ross, Renee Merrifield, and Michael Lee along with political strategist Gavin Dew.
At a time when things are changing quickly, Litwin believes the Liberal Party has to change too.
"We could become the first fiscally responsible, socially conscious party in Canada," he told KelownaNow minutes after he arrived at YLW.
"That I think is our opportunity," he said. "And that is why I'm in this race."
If it doesn't sound like the typical battle cry for the party that represents the right end of the political party in BC, that's exactly Litwin's point.
He believes it's why we have an NDP government right now.
"Any political party that's not putting people in the middle of their picture now? They're not electable," he said.
Being the pro-business, pro-economy party isn't enough anymore Litwin argues.
"What I'm saying now is that's only half the formula, we need to start talking about people."
He lists issues like mental health, climate change, housing affordability as front of mind.
"We need to lean into these issues now," said Litwin, who believes a leader coming from outside the party is exactly what's needed.
"If the party elects a totally new, totally different leader in February 2022, we will signal to the public someone new is here."
Litwin will meet with party members at Copper Brewing in Kelowna tonight from 5-7 pm.
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