BC Conservatives & Christy Clark

Yesterday, after blogging my support for Christy Clark as the next BC Liberal Party Leader and 35th Premier of British Columbia, I received a rather long-winded diatribe from Alan Forseth, both regional director for the BC Conservatives and also my uncle.  The diatribe in question was:

Hello Steve ... sorry but I don't buy Christy Clark as leader.


Here's what have others said:


… a well-honed ambition does not necessarily translate into performance at the cabinet table. As education minister, she launched many initiatives but delivered on few, and lost a key battle with the B.C. Teachers' Federation over control of the College of Teachers.


"She was energetic with a lot of ideas -- some of which were positive," said Gordon Comeau, head of the school trustees, on the day in early 2004 when the premier shuffled Clark out of education. "But her energy sometimes created conflict in the system that is still there now."


… her second chance was the ministry of children and family development -- "Why me?" Clark was quoted as saying when Campbell gave her the news. Six months later she was gone telling the premier she was quitting cabinet and would not be seek re-election.


… if she runs for Lib leader, she'll face tough queries about Railgate and the HST.


Here's what I say:


We’ve had flash / razzle / dazzle … we’ve had top down directive from the Premiere to MLA’s … and we’ve had political parties / leaders who have said & promised just about anything to get elected. What we have not had are MLA’s that are given the freedom to truly represent their constituents, and the best needs of the ridings they come from.


If Christy Clark becomes leader of the BC Liberals – and by extension the next premier – I do not believe she has what it will take to give Liberal MLA’s that kind of freedom.


It doesn’t matter who ends up as party leader because swinging the pendulum from left to right, Liberals to NDP, is not going to make one bit of difference. Only one party in BC has a core belief that government must be accountable to voters. The BC Conservatives are committed to providing a home for men and women of all walks of life who want lower taxes, a stronger economy and greater accountability.


When we next go to the polls in 2013 our province needs a new conservative government with new ideas and common sense solutions. We don’t need more of the NDP – or the Liberal’s – no matter who is leading them.

Notwithstanding the fact that the BC Teachers' Federation is well-known as being one of the most radical unions', regardless of the provincial political party in power in Victoria.  The BC Conservatives is just as much a legitimate political party as the BC First Party and the BC Heritage Party.  In fact, the BC Conservatives have only 13 Constituency Associations registered (pending Elections BC approval) at the end of 2010 and they say that the remaining 72 Constituency Associations will be established by the end of 2011.  I doubt that very much but I stand to be corrected.  Also, the BC Rail issue is "dead" as voters' in two elections had an opportunity to vote on the BC Liberals' over the BC Rail deal and the BC Liberals' were re-elected in 2005 & 2009 and believe voters' have moved on from BC Rail onto other pressing matters', like the HST, the economy, etc

In the meantime - I believe the choice before voters' will be a strong BC Liberal Government vs a stumbling in-fighting BC NDP in 2013.  Note too the BC Conservatives have polled at high as 11% but have fallen back to 6% public support while the two main provincial political parties (BC Liberals and BC NDP) have polled in the 37-43% range for public support

The choice is clear - we need to re-elect the BC Liberals in 2013 under the leadership of Christy Clark.