Christy Clark kicks off pre-campaign

B.C. Premier Christy Clark rallied with her party's candidates and supporters at a pre-election introduction of candidatesSaturday morning in Vancouver.

The party staged the upbeat event just ahead of the party's provincial council planning sessions for the May 14 election.

Clark told the gathering that the coming campaign is an important one.

"This ishave no doubt about it going to be a hard fought, close election. But every election can be won. But this one, this one, is one that must be won. Our kids are depending on all of us," Clark said.

The B.C. Liberals have yet to nominate seven of 14 candidates on Vancouver Island, but Clark said the best representatives in each community are being sought.

There are 85 ridings in the province.

Opposition NDP Leader Adrian Dix made an appearance Saturday, too, joining B.C. naturalist and NDP candidate Richard Cannings on a tour of threathened migratory bird habitat in Delta.

While Clark earlier criticized theNew Democrats for notyetreleasing their election platfom, Dix slammed the Liberals for doing more campaigning thangoverning.

"They campaign all the time. And the idea that they ran a negative ad against me 12 months ago, for this election campaign, shows that they're not focused on what they need to focus on, which was doing a good job governing the province. That's why they're in trouble today."

Dix insisted his party will continue to run a positive campaign and one that'sfocused on protecting the environment and increasing access to skills training programs.