BC Liberals won't endorse incumbent's nomination papers; paper suggests it's cuz he likes beer

Earlier today, John Slater, the MLA for Boundary-Simalkameen tweeted this:

Eff. Today, I will be stepping down as a member of the BC Liberal Caucus and will sit as an Independent for the rest of the session #bcpoli

— John Slater (@JohnSlaterMLA) January 14, 2013

The BC Liberal Party issued a press release shortly after in which party president Sharon White said:

“Mr. Slater’s candidacy is not being approved due to personal issues that, in our view, impact his ability to represent the Party.”

Personal issue? What’s up with that? Well, the Penticton Western News gets right to that:

… speculation has begun to swirl that the “personal issues” may be due to Slater having a problem with alcohol.

“I have been know to have a few drinks, yes,” said Slater. “It’s never been in the press, it’s never been an issue that way. It’s not like a DUI or something like that.”

Slater said that alcohol has never influenced his judgment at caucus or any other meetings.

“I am an animated person at the best of times and if I have a few beer, I get more animated. Maybe that is what they are talking about,” said Slater. “You can go around my constituency, all the meetings that I go to, week in, week out, that’s never a problem in my riding.”

via Penticton Western News – MLA John Slater resigns from B.C. Liberals.