11.27.2010 12:15 PM

Team Christy takes shape

B.C.’s next Premier?

…she isn’t in the race, yet, but I’ve already heard from many folks – Libs, Cons, you name it – who would jump at the chance to help her.  I know I certainly would offer whatever help I could, in the leadership race and beyond.

Having heavyweights (and, full disclosure, longtime friends) like Messrs. Boessenkool and Marissen at the helm would be a huge asset for a Clark leadership bid, too.  Two of the smartest guys in Canadian poilitics, hands down.

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The most intriguing potential candidate remains politician-turned-radio host Christy Clark, who is also said to be seriously considering a run.

She would certainly add some glitz and sparkle to the campaign. During her three-year stint in government, where she was education minister and later minister of children and family services, she was known for possessing superb communication skills.

Ms. Clark also established a reputation for a highly partisan, sometimes confrontational style that made her no friends among teachers in the province.

She is said to have lined up one of the top backroom organizers in the country, Ken Boessenkool, to run her campaign. Mr. Boessenkool has close ties to the federal Conservative Party and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose successful 2006 campaign he helped mastermind.

Ms. Clark’s former husband, meantime, is Mark Marissen, a brilliant campaign organizer in his own right who would undoubtedly lend a hand. Her brother, Bruce Clark, is a campaign fundraiser for the federal Liberals and would have a Rolodex, one would think, that would come in handy when it came to raising money. While she is being pushed hard to run, Ms. Clark, a single mother, has apparently agonized over the decision because of the impact it would have on her nine-year-old son, Hamish.

UPDATE: The fact that she is pictured here with my friend Joey can only be a good thing, in my geriatric punk view.

10 Comments

  1. Robbie says:

    The BC Liberal Party members will chose, and currently Kevin Falcon has a huge advantage on the ground. I am not that he’s guaranteed a slam dunk win; its just that Christy has her work cut out for her. There still exists a possibility for a 3rd party in the centre. BC politics very volatile and fluid right now.

  2. Cath says:

    Christy Clark would be a fabulous choice. She did wonders for education out in B.C….like brought in more choice for parents there. I hope she considers a run.

  3. jon evan says:

    Been in BC 8 years now. Too long…
    Health care is third world: line up and shut up old socialist philosophy, but also like in Montreal envelopes of cash to jump to the front.
    Huge people influx in the last number of years with overcrowding with roads from the eighties with traffic jams and frightening road rage!
    Public education in decay with schools closing and people fleeing to the private system leaving public schools overcrowded due to amalgamation with kids who don’t want to learn and all doped up with local weed.
    Dianne Watts & Carol Taylor, I believe, saw the writing on the wall that the BC Libs. are unelectable and so should Christy Clark. Perhaps if she formed a new party out of the ashes of the old BC Libs. she could have a chance but not with the old gang. They are scorned! Yes, we need to follow the Wildrose/Sask. model.

  4. Lucas North says:

    The BC Liberals deserve to lose, no matter who their leader is. Ten years of terrible unaccountable governance and outright lies is plenty.

    If Harper had made the moves Campbell made during the past ten years you would condemn him. Is it personal friendship, or partisan loyalty that lets you ignore their record? Or do you support their policy decisions?

  5. Matthew Beasley says:

    Wow, some commenters on here make it sound as though BC has turned into a despotic developing world nation. Too bad reality doesn’t conform to their view. Yes, like any government that has been in power for a while, the BC Liberals have made mistakes. However, BC has been doing very well over the past decade on almost any indicator you can come up with. The province has even weathered the recent worldwide recession relatively intact. I’m really glad I made the choice to move out here about 8 years ago.

    The BC Liberals did mislead the public in regards to the HST (right policy, wrong way to introduce it), but I hardly feel they are unique in the misleading department.

    When it comes down to it, is it the peace or the prosperity that you hate so much about BC?

    • Lucas North says:

      It’s the declining standard of living that I object to, actually. To live in a prosperous province with the lowest minimum wage in canada, including a 6 dollar an hour training wage, with the highest percentage of children living in poverty is an atrocious record. I object to run of river power plants and how they negatively affect BC Hydro. I hate that BC Ferry fares have skyrocketed. I hate that I’ve been outright lied to about the HST, the sale of BC Rail, the cost of the olympics, how the sea-to-sky highway was funded. I hate that they’ve completely gutted legal aid. I hate that homeless people with serious mental illness has skyrocketed.

      This is by no means a comprehensive list, just off the top of my head. But to me that is the BC Liberal record, and I don’t think it’s particularly defensible.

      • MCBellecourt says:

        Well said, Lucas. I’ve seen employers take advantage of that “training wage” by hiring a fresh new batch after firing the last batch as soon as they hit 500 hours. A real windfall for a lot of the fast “food” (read-garbage) joints and other retail (read-junk) outlets.

        I’ve seen the effects of the BC “liberals”s de-listing of health care services, including emergency dental care for the working poor and welfare recipients, with little children paying the awful price.

        I’ve seen the huge losses of decent-paying jobs in the North while our assets are sold out from underneath us, while heating costs have risen exponentially–and the excessive taxation and fees slapped onto peoples’ bills.

        This so-called “liberal” government is not “liberal” at all–and the candidate in Quesnel I interviewed back in 2000 desavowed any affiliation with the Federal Liberals.

        Best place on earth. Unless you live and work here.

    • jon evan says:

      “Too bad reality doesn?t conform to their view.”
      It is this kind of put down that makes people like me turn away from politicians and those who support politicians.
      The problem is Matthew you don’t live in my reality and I don’t live in yours. I don’t know in what part of BC you live, but where I live in the Fraser Valley what I said in my comment I see every day. I’m afraid to let my daughter drive because of the road rage here with the poor road systems and high speeding. They should take down the speed signs because they are irrelevant to most drivers. I work in the health care system and I see the third world waiting of sick people. I have friends in the local schools who tell me how scared they are for their kids and teachers who are shocked by what they see. This is the legacy of the BC Libs. in the reality in which I live.
      We need a gov’t that will listen to me rather than put me down for speaking my reality. Maybe, Christy Clark is that person. She doses seem to listen on her show. Maybe I can support her if she starts another party, but not with the present crew of the BC Libs. who are self serving and in my circles scorned.

  6. allegra fortissima says:

    “Unlike her, I don’t have a broom to travel on.” – Former Liberal leader Gordon Wilson, speaking about Christy Clark.

    The “broom factor” alone makes Christy Clark likeable – will be tough for Carole James to run a political campaign against the BC Liberals with CC being the opponent.

    • MCBellecourt says:

      There are some rumblings about how much involvement in the BCRail scandal Ms. Clark might have, and if some of the questions arise, it could turn out to be an albatross around her neck. There’s no clear evidence to support those rumblings, but there hasn’t been any proof otherwise, either, at least not that I’ve been able to ascertain.

      If the allegations are proven false and she becomes Premier, then perhaps she might bring the party back to the centre a little bit, because the BC”liberals” are about as far right as you can get, and have been since Day One of their government under GordZilla.

      Regardless of how these things are dealt with before the leadership convention, though, the “liberals” are going to be a hard sell with all the damage that has been done to BC, particularly in the north. Heck, Prince George doesn’t even have a legal aid office anymore!

      People in this province are very, very angry. First and foremost, they are angry at the BC”liberals”, and not just Campbell, they’re angry with the entire party and all those in it.

      They are, however, angry with Carole James for what they perceive as ineffective opposition, but one thing Carole James has for her is a clean slate as far as her public and professional life and history are concerned. Her husband also hails from a well-respected family and has been involved in law enforcement and local politics himself.

      It could prove to be a very interesting election campaign. We live in interesting times.

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