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VICTORIA — Andrew Wilkinson has spent his first year as B.C. Liberal leader trying to overhaul a tired party that’s drowning under the weight of scandals that piled up over 16 years in power.

But all it takes is one misstep to wash out months of progress. Or, in the case of Wilkinson, 22 seconds during a recent budget speech in the legislature to seriously undermine the work he’s done presenting a fresh face for the party.

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“This is a government that seems to think that if you’re employing more than a dozen people, you’re some kind of fat-cat capitalist who should be penalized for it to benefit the workers,” Wilkinson began Wednesday in his response to the government budget.

“Nothing could be further from the truth because what happens is that those employees, their numbers are capped or they’re laid off because the jobs are going elsewhere.”

So far, so good. But then, without warning, Wilkinson veered off script.