Former B.C. premier Clark says Conservatives cannot be ‘kooky’ if they want to govern

Former British Columbia premier Christy Clark attends the US-Canada Summit in Toronto on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Former British Columbia premier Christy Clark says “nobody wants to elect a government that is kooky” as the B.C. Conservatives embark on a leadership contest, urging them to focus on economic issues.

Clark posted on social media on Tuesday that she would “always be grateful for the chance to serve,” in a message marking the 15th anniversary of her running for the leadership of the right-of-centre B.C. Liberals, but in an interview on Wednesday, she said she has no interest in leading the B.C. Conservatives.

“I think there are lots of good people, who could potentially take on the job of premier, and maybe it’s time for somebody new to take on that job,” she said.

Clark, who was B.C. premier from 2011 and 2017, said the next leader of the provincial Conservatives has to make it “look like a serious party that is going to govern seriously,” while avoiding anything that takes away from a core message of affordability, job creation and economic growth.

She said that British Columbia cannot afford a government that is not focused on balancing budgets, lowering taxes and growing the number of jobs.

“If they can stay focused and not be distracted in their message, I think they have a chance of winning people’s confidence that they can govern,” she said.

Clark said it is “really easy to get obsessed” about issues like the recent cull of ostriches at a B.C. farm.

While it was a “legitimate issue” of potential government overreach that was harming a small business, it distracted from broader issues, she said.

John Rustad resigned last week as B.C. Conservative leader after being driven out by a caucus revolt, but Clark said he “deserves a lot of credit” for building the party and leading it to become the official Opposition, just as Gordon Wilson did in the early 1990s with the B.C. Liberals before he too was ousted.

Clark said Conservatives are not in a “great shape” after Rustad’s resignation, but the leadership race will be a “unifying experience” for the party, which must make itself open to people who support either Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre or Prime Minister Mark Carney federally.

Clark, who supported the federal Liberal campaign against Poilievre in his previous home riding in Ottawa, says the B.C. Conservatives must be open to people with “diverse views,” provided they agree on the importance of economic issues, but it’s “incumbent” on more conservative members to welcome former B.C. Liberals.

Several people inside and outside of caucus have hinted at a potential leadership run.

They include Kelowna MLA Gavin Dew, who finished third in the 2022 leadership of the former B.C. Liberals, which elected Kevin Falcon, and Abbotsford MLA Harman Bhangu, who first ran for the Conservatives in the 2022 byelection that elected former Conservative MLA Elenore Sturko as a B.C. Liberal.

Bhangu said last week that he needs to assess “a lot of things” when asked whether he wants to be leader.

“That’s a conversation I have to have with my wife,” he said. “She has sacrificed a great deal for me to even be here right now, having two young kids, five and seven. But that is why I got into this fight, it is the youth and making sure there is a vision for Canadians to live here, have a family here, and not hop on a plane and move to another province or country.”

Other potential candidate is former federal MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay. A website titled kerrylynne4bc.ca is urging visitors to sign a petition to draft Findlay for premier of British Columbia.

“She is the only Conservative who can stop the Liberal takeover of the BC Conservatives, the only conservative who can defeat David Eby in the next provincial election, and the only leadership candidate, who will govern like a real conservative from Day One as premier of British Columbia,” the petition reads.

The Conservative Party of B.C. has yet to announce the rules for the leadership contest, amid questions about whether the NDP government might call an early election to take advantage of the current disarray of the Opposition.

“We are going to continue to do our work for British Columbian,” Eby said last week. “We don’t want an early election, but we are ready.”

Conservative interim leader Trevor Halford said last week that the party has a “duty” to be ready for an election at all times.

Halford said he is not planning to run for the leadership himself and instead promised stability.

That was apparent by his appointments to the shadow cabinet, with most key positions remaining unchanged. A’a:liya Warbus remains House Leader, Jody Toor remains Caucus Chair and Reann Gasper remains Deputy Caucus Whip.

The most significant was for Bruce Banman, who lost his role as caucus whip to Rosalyn Bird.

Banman was the first former B.C. Liberal to join Rustad as a Conservative in the fall of 2023.

This report by Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press, was first published Dec. 10, 2025.