VANCOUVER —Former premier Christy Clark will step down as leader of the B.C. Liberal Party on Aug. 4 and leave politics.
The announcement comes just 10 days after B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan was sworn in as B.C. premier, having formed a historic alliance with the B.C. Green Party following a tumultuous provincial election.
Clark said in the statement that she is proud of everything she has accomplished, including working to make B.C. the leader in Canada's economy and creating more than 200,000 jobs.
"I am certain that British Columbia's best days lie ahead," she said in the statement.
She also called the her government's protection of the Great Bear Rainforest "British Columbia's gift to the world."
Clark, 51, led a come-from-behind victory in 2013, sweeping her party to a surprise win over the New Democrats.
But she couldn't pull off a majority government in the election this May, winning just 43 of the 87 seats in the legislature for a minority government. The Liberals had been in power for 16 years.
2/2 The Party Executive will meet within 28 days to set the rules for a leadership election process. pic.twitter.com/YyF25SA3Pc
— Today's BC Liberals (@bcliberals) July 28, 2017
The party lost a confidence vote in the legislature at the end of June.
Clark said that when she offered her resignation to Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon she tried to convince Guichon to call an election. Instead, the lieutenant-governor asked New Democrat Leader John Horgan to form government.
The New Democrats, with 41 seats, formed a minority government with the support of the Greens, who won three seats. Horgan and his cabinet were sworn in last week.
Former B.C. Liberal MLA Bill Bennett described Clark’s resignation as a loss for both the party and the province, strongly dismissing any suggestion that the party forced her out.
"I'm shocked, and I think it's sad that B.C. doesn't get to have the benefit of Christy Clark for another few more years," he said, speaking by phone from Cranbrook.
"I'm not happy about the decision. I wish she had hung on, but I understand why she thinks it's better for the party to have fresh leadership."
Green party Leader Andrew Weaver issued a statement thanking Clark for her service, calling her a fierce advocate for the province both at home and abroad.
I want to thank @christyclarkbc for her many years of service on behalf of British Columbians. I wish her and her family the very best. 1/2
— John Horgan (@jjhorgan) July 28, 2017
"A highlight of my time in the legislature was working directly with Christy Clark to implement sexualized violence policy legislation for B.C.'s post-secondary institutions," he said in a statement.
"Her leadership and willingness to work across party lines on this vital issue has made universities and colleges across this province safer for our students, and for this I am grateful."
While we represented 2 different parties, we are united in our belief that our job is to work every day to build a better province. 2/2
— John Horgan (@jjhorgan) July 28, 2017
Clark was first elected to the legislature in 1996 and became deputy premier and education minister after the Liberals' landslide victory in 2001. She left government in 2005 to spend more time with her family.
She won the B.C. Liberal leadership in 2011 and became the first woman in the province to lead a party to victory two years later.
Clark faced the prospect of sitting on the Opposition benches, but she had baggage from her time as education minister when she was at loggerheads with the B.C. Teachers' Federation.
The Liberal government stripped class-size limits from teachers' contracts in 2002 when Clark was the education minister, leading to a lengthy legal battle that ended with a Supreme Court of Canada victory for teachers in November 2016.
The government agreed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce class sizes and rehire laid-off specialist teachers including librarians, guidance counsellors, special-needs teachers and teaching assistants.
NDP Premier John Horgan's first speech as premier last week had him highlighting education as a top priority for a party.
Career highlights for Christy Clark
VANCOUVER — Former B.C. premier Christy Clark announced Friday she would be resigning as leader of the Liberal party and as a member of the legislative assembly in Kelowna West. Here is a list of Clark's political highlights:
— As a child, Clark knocked on doors with her father, Jim Clark, who was running for the provincial Liberals when the party had little support in the province.
— Clark won as student president at Simon Fraser University, later saying it was "the nastiest politics I've ever been involved in.'' She won by six votes, but was disqualified for forgetting to pay a small fine because she'd failed to remove campaign material.
— First elected to the provincial legislature in 1996 as an Opposition Liberal MLA in Port Moody.
— Re-elected in 2001 in a Liberal sweep and is appointed deputy premier and education minister.
— Left politics in 2005 to spend time with her family but then made a failed bid to lead the Non-Partisan Association in a run to be mayor of Vancouver.
— Hosted an afternoon radio talk show in Vancouver between 2007 and 2010 before leaving to seek the Liberal leadership when Gordon Campbell quit as premier.
— Clark won leadership race in 2011 and walked directly into the premier's office.
— Despite predictions of a New Democrat victory, Clark led her party to power in the 2013 election.
— Clark Liberals introduced five consecutive balanced budgets, leading Canada in job and economic growth.
— Gave the go-ahead to the $8.8 billion Site C hydroelectric dam in northeast B.C., reached long-term labour peace with teachers and preserved old-growth forests in the Great Bear Rainforest.
— The Liberals were elected to a minority government in May with 43 seats in the 87-seat legislature but lost a confidence vote after the New Democrats and Greens formed an agreement to govern.
