Prince George, B.C. – The leaders of the Liberal, New Democratic and Conservative Parties of B.C. will get a snapshot of the mood of the electorate this week when provincial by-elections are held in two ridings formerly held by Liberal MLAs.

This Thursday voters go to the polls in the ridings of Port-Moody-Coquitlam and Chilliwack-Hope. The former was held by Liberal Ian Black until he resigned last October to become head of the Vancouver Board of Trade. The latter was the seat held by Barry Penner, who quit to join a law firm in January. The by-elections come with the Liberal Party virtually tied in the polls with the once-invisible but recently resurgent B.C. Conservatives and with Premier Christy Clark’s personal popularity falling as each week passes.

The latest polling information has the NDP candidate, former area Mayor Joe Trasolini, well out in front in Port Moody-Coquitlam (Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain was the riding in which Clark was first elected). The Liberals are running Dennis Marsden as their candidate while the Conservatives counter with Christine Clark. The tighter and more hotly contested race is in Chilliwack-Hope. That’s a battle between Liberal Laurie Throness, Conservative John Martin and the NDP’s Gwen O’Mahony. The polls have Martin out in front over Throness, but the “experts” say this by-election could result in a vote split between the Liberals and Tories, with the NDP coming up the middle to score a victory.

Premier Clark, NDP leader Adrian Dix and Conservative head John Cummins look on with the rest of British Columbians as we head toward a provincial general election in a year, or less.