Christy Clark

This article is about the Canadian politician. For the Montana politician, see Christy Clark (Montana politician). For the American soap actress, see Christie Clark.

The Honourable Christy Clark MLA
35th Premier of British Columbia
Incumbent
Assumed office March 14, 2011
Lieutenant Governor	Steven Point
Preceded by	Gordon Campbell
Deputy Premier of British Columbia
In office June 5, 2001 – September 20, 2004
Premier	Gordon Campbell
Preceded by	Joy MacPhail
Succeeded by	Shirley Bond
Minister of Education
In office June 5, 2001 – January 26, 2004
Premier	Gordon Campbell
Preceded by	Joy MacPhail
Succeeded by	Tom Christensen
Minister of Children and Family Development
In office January 26, 2004 – September 20, 2004
Premier	Gordon Campbell
Preceded by	Gordon Hogg
Succeeded by	Stan Hagen
MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey
Incumbent
Assumed office May 30, 2011
Preceded by	Gordon Campbell
MLA for Port Moody-Westwood (Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain)
In office 1996–2005
Preceded by	Barbara Copping
Succeeded by	Iain Black
Personal details
Born	October 29, 1965 (1965-10-29) (age 46) Burnaby, British Columbia
Political party	B.C. Liberal

Christina Joan "Christy" Clark, MLA (born October 29, 1965) is a Canadian politician, 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 the time of her leadership victory, Clark was 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 re-entered the legislature after winning a by-election on May 11, 2011 in Vancouver-Point Grey,^[2] the riding vacated by her predecessor as premier, Gordon Campbell.^[3]

Clark is the second, and longest serving, woman to serve as Premier of British Columbia (Rita Johnston being the first in 1991), 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. When Alison Redford became Premier of Alberta seven months later, this number was increased to four.

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), studying Political Science and Religious Studies.^[4] She, however, does not hold any degree.

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.^[5]

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^[which?] that were claimed to increase accountability, strengthen 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.^[6]

As Education Minister, Clark sought to increase the independence of the BC College of Teachers against heavy opposition from the British Columbia Teachers' Federation.^[7][8]

Clark was deputy premier at the time of the privatization of BC Rail and resulting scandal.^[9] Clark was also the Co-Chair of the 2001 Liberal campaign, which included a platform that specifically promised not to sell BC Rail.^[10] 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.^[11] Her brother Bruce Clark, a lobbyist for BC Rail bidder Washington Marine Group, was the subject of one of the warrants. Though confidential draft "Request for Proposal" 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 for accepting benefits from one of the bidders, however.^[12] 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.^[13] Her husband was also not under investigation, and was told that he might have been the "innocent recipient" of documents (resumes of people looking for federal political work) then in his possession.^[14]

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.^[5]

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.^[5] 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.^[15]

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. While Clark had long been touted as a potential successor to BC Premier Gordon Campbell, she often claimed she had no further interest in a political career.^[16][17][18]

One of her early campaign announcements promised to cancel the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) referendum scheduled for September 2011. She suggested 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.^[19]

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".^[20][11] 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.^[21]

Premiership

Clark's first task as Premier was to win a seat in the provincial legislature for herself. She ran in former Premier Gordon Campbell's riding of Vancouver-Point Grey and defeated NDP candidate David Eby by 595 votes.^[22] She was sworn into the legislature on May 30, 2011.^[23]

References

1. ^ "Christy Clark chosen as B.C.'s new premier". The Globe and Mail, February 26, 2010.
2. ^ "Christy Clark wins Vancouver-Point Grey in an absolute thriller". The Province, May 11, 2011.
3. ^ "Clark calls by-election for May 11". The Globe and Mail, April 13, 2011.
4. ^ "Premier Christy Clark". Christyclark.ca. http://www.christyclark.ca/cc/biography/. Retrieved 2011-05-19. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} Richmond, Vanessa (2010-12-09). "Christy Clark and the Woman Politician Thing". The Tyee. http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2010/12/09/ChristyClark/. 
6. ^ Pablo, Carlito (2010-12-02). "Christy Clark's legacy of education cuts lingers in B.C.". Georgia Straight. http://www.straight.com/article-362181/vancouver/christy-clarks-legacy-cuts-lingers. 
7. ^ Steffenhagen, Janet (2010-12-14). "Liberals to blame for B.C. College of Teachers dysfunction, former registrar says". Vancouver Sun. http://www.vancouversun.com/2010sunrun/Liberals+blame+College+Teachers+dysfunction+former+registrar+says/3978017/story.html. 
8. ^ Hyslop, Katie (2011-01-28). "When Christy Clark Ran BC's Schools". The Tyee. http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/01/28/WhenClarkRanSchools/. 
9. ^ Tieleman, Bill (2004-01-08). "Raids prompt revelations of Martin-Campbell connections". Georgia Straight. http://www.straight.com/print/89. 
10. ^ ""BC Rail questions remain 7 years after raid", CBC News, with material from the Canadian Press, Dec. 27, 2010". Cbc.ca. 2010-12-28. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/12/28/bc-rail-questions.html. Retrieved 2011-05-19. 
11. ^ ^{a b} Tieleman, Bill (2010-11-29). "Hard Questions for Christy Clark". The Tyee. http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2010/11/30/QuestionsForClark/. 
12. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
13. ^ Tamsyn Burgmann The Canadian Press. ""Questions still linger after stunning raid of B.C. legislature", Tamysn Burgmann, ''Toronto Star'', December 27, 2010". Thestar.com. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/912525--questions-still-linger-after-stunning-raid-of-b-c-legislature. Retrieved 2011-05-19. 
14. ^ CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/bcraids/. 
15. ^ Leiren-Young, Mark (2005-09-26). "Man in Wheelchair Runs over Christy Clark!". The Tyee. http://thetyee.ca/Views/2005/09/26/Wheelchairclark/. 
16. ^ Mason, Gary (2010-11-26). "Candidates emerge in race for Campbell’s seat". Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/gary_mason/candidates-emerge-in-race-for-campbells-seat/article1815959/. 
17. ^ The Canadian Press (2010-11-12). "B.C. Liberals to decide on leadership vote". CBC. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/11/12/bc-liberal-leadership-date-rules.html. 
18. ^ Smyth, Michael (2010-11-28). "Clark eyes bid to replace Campbell". The Province. http://www.theprovince.com/news/Clark+eyes+replace+Campbell/3895503/story.html. 
19. ^ Melnychuk, Phil (2010-11-26). "Christy Clark makes stop in Pitt Meadows". Maple Ridge News. http://www.bclocalnews.com/tri_city_maple_ridge/mapleridgenews/news/111636924.html. Retrieved 2010-12-09. 
20. ^ "B.C. Rail's toxic cargo poisoning Clark's bid". The Province, December 16, 2010.
21. ^ "BC Rail questions remain 7 years after raid". CBC News, with material from the Canadian Press, Dec. 27, 2010.
22. ^ "2011 Vancouver-Point Grey By-election Preliminary Results". Elections BC, May 12, 2011.
23. ^ Christy Clark sworn in as MLA for Vancouver Point Grey

External links

• Christy Clark
• Official Biography, Office of the Premier

Political offices
Preceded by Steven Point, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia	Order of precedence in British Columbia as of 2011[update]	Succeeded by Lance Finch, Chief Justice of British Columbia

Persondata
Name	Clark, Christy
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 29, 1965
Place of birth	Burnaby, British Columbia
Date of death
Place of death