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Christy Clark

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For the American soap actress, see Christie Clark.
The Honourable
Christy Clark
35th Premier of British Columbia
Assumed office
March 14, 2011
Lieutenant GovernorSteven Point
Preceded byGordon Campbell
MLA for Port Moody-Westwood
(Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain)
In office
1996–2005
Preceded byBarbara Copping
Succeeded byIain Black
Deputy Premier of British Columbia
In office
June 5, 2001 – September 20, 2004
PremierGordon Campbell
Preceded byJoy MacPhail
Succeeded byShirley Bond
Minister of Education
In office
June 5, 2001 – January 26, 2004
PremierGordon Campbell
Preceded byJoy MacPhail
Succeeded byTom Christensen
Minister of Children and Family Development
In office
January 26, 2004 – September 20, 2004
PremierGordon Campbell
Preceded byGordon Hogg
Succeeded byStan Hagen
Personal details
Bornsmall
(1965-10-29) October 29, 1965 (age 58)
Burnaby, British Columbia
Diedsmall
Resting placesmall
Political partyB.C. Liberal
Parent
  • small

Christina Joan "Christy" Clark (born October 29, 1965) is a Canadian politician and the 35th and current Premier of British Columbia, Canada. Clark was sworn in as premier on March 14, 2011, after she won the leadership of the BC Liberal Party in the 2011 leadership election on February 26, 2011.[1]

At present, Clark is not a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, though she previously represented the ridings of Port Moody-Westwood and Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain between 1996 and 2005. During that time she served as Minister of Education, Minister of Children and Family Development and as Deputy Premier. She is expected to seek to re-enter the legislature in a forthcoming by-election.[2][3][4]

Clark is the second woman, following Rita Johnston in 1991, to serve as Premier of British Columbia, as well as the fourth woman in Canadian history to serve as a provincial premier, and the eighth woman overall to be a first minister. With Eva Aariak currently serving as Premier of Nunavut, and with Kathy Dunderdale holding the office of Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Clark's investiture as premier in British Columbia also marked the first time in Canadian history that three provinces or territories have simultaneously had female premiers.

Personal life and education

Clark was born in Burnaby, British Columbia. Her father, Jim, was a teacher and a three-time candidate for the Legislature and her mother, Mavis, was a family counsellor. Clark attended Simon Fraser University (SFU), the Sorbonne (France) and the University of Edinburgh (Scotland, UK), studying Political Science and Religious Studies.[5] While studying at SFU, she was elected by the student body as the President of the Simon Fraser Student Society.[6]

In 2001, Clark gave birth to her first child, Hamish Marissen-Clark, with now ex-husband Mark Marissen. Clark was the second woman in Canadian history to give birth to a child while serving as a cabinet minister, after Pauline Marois, a Quebec provincial minister, in 1985.[7]

Politics

Opposition

Clark was first elected to the legislature in the 1996 election, representing the riding of Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain. During the next five years, she served as the Official Opposition critic for the environment, children and families and for the public service. She also served as the campaign co-chair for the BC Liberals during the 2001 election, in which the party won 77 of 79 seats in the legislature.

Government

Following the BC Liberal Party's election victory in 2001, Premier Gordon Campbell appointed Clark Minister of Education and Deputy Premier. She brought in a number of changes that were claimed to increase accountability, strengthene parental power in the decision-making process, and provide parents greater choice and flexibility in the school system.[citation needed] These changes were unpopular amongst teachers, school board members, opposition politicians, and union officials who argued that the decision not to fund the pay increases agreed to by the outgoing New Democratic Party government resulted in funding gaps.[8]

As Education Minister, Clark sought to increase the independence of the BC College of Teachers against heavy opposition from the British Columbia Teachers' Federation.[9][10]

Clark was deputy premier at the time of the privatization of BC Rail and resulting scandal.[11] Clark had also been a co-author of the Liberal Party platform for the 2001 campaign, which specifically promised not to sell BC Rail.[12] In 2009, Michael Bolton, defence attorney in the Basi-Virk trial, alleged that Clark had participated in the scandal by providing government information to lobbyist Erik Bornmann. These allegations were never proven or tested in court.[13] Her brother Bruce Clark, a lobbyist for BC Rail bidder Washington Marine Group, was the subject of one of the warrants. Though confidential cabinet documents relating to the bid process allegedly provided by Dave Basi were found in Bruce Clark's home no charges were laid against him. Dave Basi and Bob Virk,Liberal Party insiders were charged however. [14] Ms. Clark has rebuffed talk of her links to the scandal as "smear tactics". At the time of the raids and associated warrants, her then-husband Mark Marissen was visited at home by the RCMP, but like other elected officials she was excluded from any investigation.[15] Her husband was also not under investigation, and was told that he might have been the "innocent recipient" of documents then in his possession. [16]

In 2004, Clark was appointed Minister of Children and Family Development after Minister Gordon Hogg was forced to resign. On September 17, 2004, Clark quit provincial politics and did not seek re-election in the 2005 provincial election. She declared she wanted to spend more time with her three-year old son.[7]

Campaign for mayor of Vancouver

On August 31, 2005, Clark announced that she would seek the nomination of the Non-Partisan Association (NPA) to run for Mayor in the Vancouver Civic Elections against local councillor Sam Sullivan.[7] On September 24, 2005, she lost the NPA's mayoral nomination to Sullivan by 69 votes out of 2,100 cast. Sullivan was subsequently elected Mayor of Vancouver.[17]

Radio show and columnist

Clark hosted the The Christy Clark Show, airing weekdays on CKNW 980 AM in Vancouver from August 27, 2007 through to her decision to enter the BC Liberal leadership election in December 2010.

She served as a weekly columnist for the Vancouver Province and the Vancouver Sun newspapers during the 2005 provincial election and an election analyst for Global BC and CTV News Channel during the 2006 federal election.

Campaign for party leadership, 2010-2011

On December 8, 2010, Clark officially announced her intent to seek the leadership of the BC Liberal Party. If successful, she would become Premier-Designate and pending the Lieutenant-Governor's approval, the Premier of British Columbia.[18]

While Clark has been touted as a potential successor to BC Premier Gordon Campbell, she long claimed she no had further interest in a political career.[19][20][21] She has stated her mind was changed after being asked by many people and thinking very hard about it.[22]

One of her early campaign announcements was to propose cancelling the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) referendum scheduled for September 2011. She suggests allowing a free vote in the house by MLAs, believing the HST referendum has little chance of success. “Let our MLAs do their jobs and let our MLAs vote down the HST. Do it by March 31 and get it over with and get on with life in B.C.,” Clark told a crowd of about 40 in Pitt Meadows.[23]

A recent Ipsos Reid poll, reported in the Vancouver Sun, indicates that Clark has the highest public support of the current candidates for the leadership of the BC Liberals, being the only declared candidate to have a net positive score.[24] Another poll reported by the CBC also showed Clark to be favoured.[25]

Despite strong polling numbers, political commentator Bill Tieleman has noted that, as she has spent a number of years outside of politics, Clark may be at a disadvantage compared to other candidates, such as Kevin Falcon, who have already established strong bases of support within the BC Liberal Party.[13][24][26]. Clark received a surprise endorsement from Paul Nettleton, a Liberal MLA from 1996 until 2002, who was ousted from caucus for his harsh denunciations of the plan to sell BC Rail. He endorses her position that there should be no public inquiry into BC Rail saying it's "time to move on".[27] Only one government MLA, Harry Bloy, supported her campaign.

Her campaign faced questions regarding her involvement in the sale of BC Rail due to her cabinet position and family connection to people "mentioned prominently in court documents, including search warrants", with opposition members stating that she "wants to shut down the public's questions about the scandal".[28][13] It was in the wake of the controversial Basi-Virk guilty pleas that ended the trial proceedings that she declared her candidacy for the party leadership on her radio show. Clark had called for more questions to be answered about BC Rail, but since then has said that there is no need for a public inquiry, as have the other Liberal Party leadership contenders.[29]

References

  1. ^ "Christy Clark chosen as B.C.'s new premier". The Globe and Mail, February 26, 2010.
  2. ^ "Christy Clark's first task is to find a seat in B.C. legislature". The Globe and Mail, February 28, 2011.
  3. ^ "British Columbia Votes 2009: Coquitlam-Burke Mountain". CBC News.
  4. ^ "Outgoing B.C. premier welcomes his successor, says Clark will do a great job". Winnipeg Free Press, February 28, 2011.
  5. ^ http://www.christyclark.ca/cc/biography/
  6. ^ http://www.leg.bc.ca/mla/36thparl/ClarkC.htm
  7. ^ a b c Richmond, Vanessa (2010-12-09). "Christy Clark and the Woman Politician Thing". The Tyee.
  8. ^ Pablo, Carlito (2010-12-02). "Christy Clark's legacy of education cuts lingers in B.C." Georgia Straight.
  9. ^ Steffenhagen, Janet (2010-12-14). "Liberals to blame for B.C. College of Teachers dysfunction, former registrar says". Vancouver Sun.
  10. ^ Hyslop, Katie (2011-01-28). "When Christy Clark Ran BC's Schools". The Tyee.
  11. ^ Tieleman, Bill (2004-01-08). "Raids prompt revelations of Martin-Campbell connections". Georgia Straight.
  12. ^ "BC Rail questions remain 7 years after raid", CBC News, with material from the Canadian Press, Dec. 27, 2010
  13. ^ a b c Tieleman, Bill (2010-11-29). "Hard Questions for Christy Clark". The Tyee. Cite error: The named reference "Hard Questions" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  14. ^ [1]
  15. ^ "Questions still linger after stunning raid of B.C. legislature", Tamysn Burgmann, Toronto Star, December 27, 2010
  16. ^ [2]
  17. ^ Leiren-Young, Mark (2005-09-26). "Man in Wheelchair Runs over Christy Clark!". The Tyee.
  18. ^ Ward, Doug (2010-12-08). "Christy Clark joins race for B.C. Liberal leadership". Vancouver Sun.
  19. ^ Mason, Gary (2010-11-26). "Candidates emerge in race for Campbell's seat". Globe and Mail.
  20. ^ The Canadian Press (2010-11-12). "B.C. Liberals to decide on leadership vote". CBC.
  21. ^ Smyth, Michael (2010-11-28). "Clark eyes bid to replace Campbell". The Province.
  22. ^ Ward, Doug (2010-11-26). "Christy Clark eyeing B.C. Liberal leadership bid, taking time to decide". Vancouver Sun.
  23. ^ Melnychuk, Phil (2010-11-26). "Christy Clark makes stop in Pitt Meadows". Maple Ridge News. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  24. ^ a b Sinoski, Kelly (2010-12-08). "Voters favour Christy Clark for BC Liberal leadership: poll". Vancouver Sun.
  25. ^ CBC News (2010-11-29). "Clark front-runner for B.C. Liberals: poll". CBC.
  26. ^ Fowlie, Jonathan (2010-11-30). "Kevin Falcon joins race to replace Gordon Campbell". Vancouver Sun.
  27. ^ Vaughan Palmer, "Critic of B.C. Rail sale endorses Christy Clark". Vancouver Sun, December 27, 2010.
  28. ^ "B.C. Rail's toxic cargo poisoning Clark's bid". The Province, December 16, 2010.
  29. ^ "BC Rail questions remain 7 years after raid". CBC News, with material from the Canadian Press, Dec. 27, 2010.
Political offices
Preceded by Order of precedence in British Columbia
as of 2011 		Succeeded by
Lance Finch, Chief Justice of British Columbia


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