Liberal leadership hopeful Clark denies former Conservative ties — despite past comments
Former B.C. premier also says she would scrap federal carbon tax if she wins the leadership
Former B.C. premier Christy Clark — who is considering running for the federal Liberal leadership — is denying that she was previously a member of Conservative Party, despite past comments where she said otherwise.
Clark publicly endorsed Jean Charest in the Conservative leadership race in 2022 and said she intended to join the party to vote for her preferred candidate.
But the former premier told CBC Radio's The House that she only endorsed Charest because she didn't want current Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to win the 2022 leadership contest and that she never formally signed up with the party to vote for Charest.
"I never got a membership and I never got a ballot," Clark told host Catherine Cullen in an interview airing Saturday.
"I came out and I supported Jean Charest and the reason I did this is simple: I thought it was vitally important that we stopped Pierre Poilievre."
A spokesperson for the Conservative Party refuted Clark's claims, saying they have records of Clark's membership from the 2022 leadership race.
"Christy Clark purchased a Conservative Party membership through Jean Charest's leadership campaign. That membership is no longer active," Sarah Fischer, the party's director of communications, said in an email.
When asked about Fischer's statement, Clark pushed back and insisted she had never been a member.
"Why don't they come out and show my membership or my ballot? They never sent me any of those — although I wouldn't put it past them to manufacture one of them," Clark told Cullen.
Following Clark's interview on The House, the Conservative Party provided a screenshot of a membership database that suggests Clark had membership from June 2022 to June 2023.
Clark's comments to CBC News also contradict what she had said during the time of the Conservative leadership contest.
In an August 2022 interview with the Conservative Journal of Canada, Clark explicitly said she was joining the Conservative Party to support Charest.
"I'm joining the party so I can support Mr. Charest and what I think he can bring to the national dialogue," said Clark when asked if she would be getting involved with the federal Conservatives.
Clark also told The Canadian Press in 2022 that she had received a ballot and was looking forward to voting in the leadership race.
The Vancouver Sun and The Hill Times also reported in 2022 that Clark had signed up with the Conservatives to vote in the leadership contest.
"I said I wanted to support [Charest]. I said I would join the party. At the end of the day I never did," Clark told The House.
In a post on X on Friday night after this story was published, Clark said she misspoke and acknowledged supporting Charest, but did not clearly state whether she was a Conservative party member.
"Well, I misspoke. Sh*t happens. Lesson learned," she said, adding that she has always been clear that she supported Charest to stop Poilievre.
"I'm thinking carefully about running because he still needs to be stopped," she said. "But if we want to do that, our party has to accept change. Sticking with the status quo is a losing strategy."
Clark says she would scrap federal carbon tax
Clark hasn't officially launched a campaign, but she said she is "seriously thinking about" running to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
If she does decide to throw her hat in the ring, Clark said she would end one of Trudeau's key environmental policies if she is successful in winning the leadership.
"I don't think we should keep the carbon tax that the federal government has. I think that the Trudeau carbon tax isn't working," she told Cullen.
Clark's comments come after Poilievre billed the former premier as "carbon tax Clark" and the "carbon tax queen" during a press conference on Thursday.
Clark kept the B.C. carbon tax in place that was implemented by her predecessor, Gordon Campbell, in 2008. While it was initially meant to increase over time, Clark's government froze the price at $30 per tonne in 2012 after she took over leadership. The current federal levy is $80 a tonne and set to increase to $95 in April.
"A carbon tax isn't the only answer to fighting climate change. There is a whole range of other tools in the toolbox and we would be committing to figuring out which tools we want to put to work, but also with a mind to making sure that they aren't things that will hold people back, that will hurt our economy," Clark told Cullen.
The Liberal Party revealed Thursday night that it will be announcing its new leader on March 9.
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With files from Kristen Everson