Premier christy clark biography

Christy Clark, a distinguished figure among Canadian politicians, was the 35th Premier of British Columbia and the first woman to be re-elected to that position.

Former British Columbia premier Christy Clark, who is considering a run for federal Liberal leader, has backtracked on her claim this week that she’d never been a member of the Conservative party.

Clark told CBC Radio’s The House that she is “very seriously” considering a leadership bid, but expressed disappointment with the short timeline for the race.

She also denied she voted for former Quebec premier Jean Charest in his bid to become Conservative leader in 2022, a race that was won by Pierre Poilievre.

Clark, who has called herself a “lifelong Liberal,” said in the interview that despite publicly supporting Charest’s leadership run she never joined the party and never received a ballot for the race.

The Conservatives have provided a screen grab of their electronic records, showing Clark was an active member of the party from June 2, 2022 until June 30, 2023.

On social media late Friday, Clark posted a facepalm emoji and said she “misspoke,” but says she’s not backing away from her claim the she supported Charest to stop Poilievre.

“I have always been clear that I supported Jean Charest to stop Pierre Poilievre.

He’s the most divisive politician we’ve seen in years,” Clark said in a post on X.

“I’m thinking carefully about running because he still needs to be stopped. In November 2018, the women’s Executive Network (WXN) recognized her as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most PowerfulWomen.

At the same time, Clark balanced consecutive budgets, reduced debt, and maintained some of the best health and education outcomes in the country.

Today, Clark is a highly sought-after guest speaker at events nationwide, an active board member for top Canadian companies and institutes, and an advisor to some of Canada’s leading figures and organizations.
Her deep understanding of decision-making at various levels of government has made her a trusted advisor to business leaders in corporate boardrooms, and her experience in economic development has earned her recognition as a thought leader by numerous industry leaders and think tanks.

Christy Clark led Canada’s third-largest province for over six years.

BC was also the only Canadian province with a AAA credit rating. She made significant investments in strategic infrastructure, encouraged greater participation from Indigenous communities in the economy, accelerated global trade, and modernized and diversified what is now a $250 billion economy. But if we want to do that, our party has to accept change.”

During her interview with CBC, Clark claimed she’d asked the Conservatives why she hadn’t received a ballot for the Tory race in 2022, and that no one got back to her.

It’s very different than what we did in British Columbia,” Clark said, adding she would have an alternative plan for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Liberal cabinet minister Anita Anand announced Saturday that she won’t pursue a leadership bid. And, after inheriting a deficit of $1.2B, Clark’s government went on to balance5 consecutive budgets.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc have also said they will not join the race.

Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney signalled through his campaign team Friday that he will launch a leadership bid late next week. When Clark took office, Canada’s third-largest province was struggling economically, but in just six years, she transformed the BC economy.

Throughout her tenure, Clark demonstrated the strongest performance of any Canadian Premier for economic growth, fiscal management, and job creation.

When she left office, British Columbia had been Canada’s economic leader for three years running–the first time that has happened since the 1960s. BC went from being 9th in job creation to 1stamong provinces.

Clark retired from political life in 2017 as the longest-serving female Premier in Canadian history and the only woman Premier in Canada ever to be re-elected.

 Today she is a Senior Advisor at Bennett Jones LLP. She chairs the Board for Roots of Empathy and co-chairs the Advisory Board for the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University.

She has also been inducted into the WXN Hall of Fame.