B.C. Liberal Leader Gordon Campbell had dinner with 1,700 of his closest friends last night, while NDP Leader Carole James yesterday promised 3,300 more long-term care beds for seniors if her party wins the May 12 provincial election.

Campbell gave a half-hour speech at Vancouver's brand new convention centre to a crowd of B.C.'s business and political elite. He urged them to get out the vote and called this crop of Liberal MLA candidates the best group the party has ever had, for an election he calls the most important in a generation.

James has promised the long-term care beds yesterday at the home of a woman whose ailing father is threatened with eviction from Zion Park Manor in Surrey.

The operator of the facility announced last year that outdated sections would be closed, with a loss of 77 beds.

James accuses the Liberal government of turning its back on seniors and pledged more funding for quality of care for seniors and more money to renovate existing facilities.

James will be in the Lower Mainland today, taking part in a media event in Vancouver this morning before moving to Burnaby later tonight. Campbell is taking his campaign to Quesnel, where he will visit a saw mill and a nursery.