Former colleagues say Christy Clark shouldn't be underestimated in federal Liberal leadership race

Former B.C. premier Christy Clark has been preparing for months to take a run at being the next federal Liberal leader and could announce her intentions any day now, former colleagues say.

They believe that her outsider status as well as her past history of uniting a fractured caucus may give her a legitimate shot at becoming Canada’s next prime minister after Justin Trudeau announced his intention to resign Monday.

Most polls have Clark falling behind already established cabinet ministers such as ex-finance minister Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Transportation Minister Anita Anand, and Innovation and Science and Industry Minister Fran?ois-Philippe Champagne.

Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney has also been much-touted as an outsider candidate, while current Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc was viewed as a potential front-runner until he announced Tuesday he wouldn’t be putting his name forward.

“I think she certainly has the potential to be a dark horse in the race,” said Stephen Smart, general manager of Hill & Knowlton Western Canada and a former press secretary to Clark.

“I really think those who might dismiss her in this race out of the gate really do so at their own peril. She builds great teams around her. She has the potential to really get people on-board. She has been a member of the Liberal Party of Canada for a very long time.”

While remembered in her home province as the leader of a party, the B.C. Liberals, that represented a coalition of federal Liberals and Conservatives, Clark has been consistent about where her loyalty lies when it comes to the federal stage.

A member of the Young Liberals during her time at Simon Fraser University in the 1980s, Clark came by her affiliation with the party honestly as her father, Jim, had run provincially three times for the party when it was still connected to the federal brand.

His daughter later joined with Gordon Wilson and others to give the provincial Liberals their independence in the lead-up to the 1991 election, but has spoken about her continuing affinity for the federal party often in the decades since.

Clark also served as a staffer in the Jean Chretien administration, where she worked beside LeBlanc. The pair have remained close friends in the years since.

Mike Bernier, former B.C. Liberal MLA for Peace River South, says one of the main strengths Clark brings to the table, having been the education minister for the final two years of her government, is her charisma and ability to bring people together.

This will be important if she steps in as the new leader of a deeply divided federal Liberal caucus, a situation similar to the one she inherited when taking over from Gordon Campbell as leader of the provincial government in 2011.

“Christy has more charisma as almost anybody I’ve ever met, she has an ability when she walks in the room, you can just feel that aura,” said Bernier.

“Others might come in with a policy or a business background. Christy puts the smart people around her, meaning she doesn’t have to be the person with all of those skill sets. Her idea is just to get people excited, how to get people to be part of something.”

Bernier says Clark’s more conservative credentials from her time in politics could be a help as he said there remain many people in Conservative ridings such as his that hold very favourable opinions of Clark due to her focus on blue-collar issues such as resource development while serving as premier.

Also of help is her frequent criticisms of Trudeau, ranging from his purchase of the Trans-Mountain Pipeline in 2018 to his refusal to resign this summer following a shocking defeat in the Toronto-St. Paul’s byelection.

“I never thought there would be a prime minister in this country who would be deciding that the things that Canadians say, as long as it’s not hate speech, are unacceptable,” she said in 2022 after endorsing Jean Charest for federal Conservative leader.

“Implicit in his handling of the truckers’ convoy was this message: ‘If you don’t agree with me … you’re a bad person, and if you do agree with me, you’re a good person.’ ”

Those close to Clark are divided on whether a short or long race would be more beneficial to her. While a short race would limit the amount of money she would have to spend, a longer race would give her more time to sign up new members to support her.

The former premier’s longtime finance minister, Mike de Jong, said that the problem for Clark if she is elected is that she will be in charge of a party that is supremely unpopular and is expected to get wiped out of government by the federal Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre.

De Jong, who will be running for the Tories, likened the Liberals to “replacing the captain of the Titanic 20 minutes after it’s struck the iceberg.”

“The ship is sinking and any member of the crew that hasn’t already jumped overboard, along with the new captain (whoever that is), will be held responsible for the mess they’ve created,” said de Jong, while acknowledging that he would never “underestimate Christy Clark’s political abilities.”

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad, who also served as a cabinet minister in Clark’s government, agreed with de Jong. He said that, despite his respect for his former boss, he will be supporting Poilievre in the upcoming election.

“I enjoyed my time working with Christy. I have a lot of respect for her as premier. If she’s going to go after the leadership of the federal Liberal party, I’m really not gonna have much to say about that,” said Rustad.

“My perspective, though, is that we need significant political change. We need to bring some common sense back to this country. We need to get rid of things like the carbon tax. And so I only see one path forward with that, and that is with the current federal Conservative party.”

On Thursday, the Liberal Party of Canada announced that the nation-wide race to choose the next leader of the party will conclude on March 9, 2025.