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Christy Clark will be B.C.'s next premier
By By Jonathan Fowlie and Paul Bucci, Vancouver Sun
February 26, 2011 9:03 PM
Christy Clark will be the next premier of British Columbia.
After a day of voting Saturday, and three rounds of counting, the BC Liberal Party chose Clark to be their new leader, with 52-per-cent support on the final ballot.
"I want you to be my partners in change in Victoria. I want you to be my partners in bringing opening government,” Clark said in her victory speech, speaking as much to the live television viewers around the province as to the party members on the floor of the Vancouver Convention Centre .
“You can count on me to listen. You can count on me to engage," she added, trading on a key campaign message of making the government more accessible to the people.
After her victory, Clark ruled out holding a snap election, saying she wants to let the New Democratic Party select a new leader, and for the province to hold a June 24 referendum on the Harmonized Sales Tax, before taking the province to the polls in a general election.
“We're going to be seeking a mandate from British Columbians, but absolutely not right away,” she said, making clear she still intends to go to the polls before the next scheduled election date in 2013.
Clark added she will seek a seat in a by-election “as soon as I possibly can,” strongly hinting that she will run in Premier Gordon Campbell's riding of Vancouver – Point Grey..
“I've been very active in Kitsilano -- at the Kits neighbourhood house -- we've been trying to build housing,” she said, adding that project is in Campbell's riding.
Clark said that while she does not live in Campbell's riding, her son, Hamish, attends school there.
In her acceptance speech, Clark said she will focus on creating jobs, fighting poverty, driving innovation and making "rural B.C. a full partner in our prosperity."
She thanked new and long-time Liberal members: "Our party is a coalition and it's a great coalition," she said, working to reach out to those in the federal Conservative wing of the party's coalition.
She also reached out to her leadership rivals -- George Abbott, Kevin Falcon, Mike de Jong, Moira Stilwell and Ed Mayne -- saying their efforts have made the B.C. Liberals stronger and "more vital."
Immediately after stepping off the stage, Clark took a call from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“We talked about our relationship going forward and I'm very much looking forward to working with him,” she said.
“In terms of our relationship with the federal government, it's not going to change. Our government in British Columbia has had a terrific relationship with the federal government, it's been very productive.”
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發表於 2011-2-26 21:12
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