Unbelievable... we have a premier with the powers of a dictator that doesn't even have a seat in the provincial legislature... it should be illegal IMO. I hope she calls an election soon after the HST referendum, or better yet both at the same time.

We can't go three years with a premier that is unelected. Far to much power in that office for all of the citizens of British Columbia to not have a say.

The big losers are Shirley Bond and Pat Bell for backing the wrong candidate as cabinet ministers, and as a result I'm sure costing PG for their folly.

This might be a refreshing change from the old school politics of the old boys club. As long as she stands her ground, does what she said she will do. I'm game to give her a chance. liberals are the lesser of all the evils imo

The last female premier (Rita Johnson)lasted 7 months We'll see.......

I will sit and wait for her to start lying to us...just like those before her and those that will follow.

I agree, Vocer. There will be a by-election as soon as possible and she will take her rightful seat in the legislature.

"On November 1, 2000 Edward John was appointed by the NDP to the provincial cabinet as Minister for Children and Families, serving until the change of government in June, 2001. In the election of May 16, 2001 he ran unsuccessfully as the New Democratic Party candidate for Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Prince George-Omineca riding."

Here we had an unelected outsider (nobody elected him or voted for him) serving as a cabinet minister for 8 months.

Socredible, no need for the *b* word! You have no respect for this site and its explicit policy to maintain a manner of common civility at all times.

Get a life!

re; P Val... "I will sit and wait for her to start lying to us...just like those before her and those that will follow."
---------------------------------------

Sadly your comment is right on the money!

*sigh*

I think Christy Clark will do a good job. She tells it like it is and I admire her for that.
I'm sure that tt makes the NDP wince to have to fight her in the next election.
When they stand up and make some of their Ill thought out statements I hope she continues to tell it like it is.
When the NDP rags on about health care I hope she say " OK, let us build new facilities, now how much do you want taxes to go up?
When the NDP complain about funding for the arts, education, animal welfare, womens groups, roads, welfare and the poor, housing, gambling revenues, environment, First Nations, business and unionsand and thousands of other special interest groups that she says,
"Great we will fund all of these things that you complain about, now how do you suggest we pay for all this and/or how mush do you suggest we raise taxes?
The NDP will always be served glass half empty but ask them "How much it will cost and how are you going to pay for it?
Now you have a deer in the headlights situation.

Clark will need a large suitcase to carry out the knives she will be pulling out of her back!
You don't mess with the Liberal old boys club!
The Liberals are a party seriously divided,and Clark has little hope of changing that from within.
They are indeed,a vindictive lot!
I will also be waitng for her to start lying to us.

How do you get to be premier if you aren't an elected MLA?

Damn good question RUEZ!

It was interesting to see Pat Bell falling all over himself to get to Christy and give her a big hug. In fact he did it twice. He knows he backed the wrong horse and now will try and save his ass.

Christy will have to dump a bunch of those cabinet ministers because they all tried to dump her, and in fact didnt want her in the party.

At the end of the day when the dust settles, we will still have a Government that is for all intents and purposes finished. They have spent all the money, drove us into debt, and have nowhere to go but down.

Naturally a lot of people will buy the **New Party** BS, but hopefully they will see things a little differently a few months from now.

Lets see how Christy comes across in the by-election to get her elected. That will be a good **first test** to see where this party is going.

I expect that **Minne Me** Falcon will probably pack his bags and hit the road. There really is no place in the **New** Government for him.

actually I sense a united party andy. There is nothing that units common sense like another decacade of the dippers in control.

The Leader of a Political Party in Canada, and BC is automatically the Premier of the Party if the party gets elected. Christy has been elected leader of the party, so she is now Premier.

She will have to hold a by-election and get elected in order to sit in the Legislature. I would expect someone to give her a safe riding to run in very soon.

I swear you people drink or smoke too much funny stuff. Ms. Clark's qualifications aside, there is nothing wrong constitutionally with her being a premier while not being elected. That's the way it is. She will probably run in a bye-election which means some poor hardworking MLA will be rewarded for resigning in her favour,which I don't think is fair. I do think Ms. Clark will have a tough time. I am at a loss as to why our two MLA's supported Falcon. I can't figure out why Mike DeJong is not more popular........I must have missed something.....I'm sure you intoxicated wits will let me know.

So until she's a sitting MLA she can only direct the puppet show from the backseat? It seems strange that this would be allowed in our system. We have to have faith that the person just voted premier will now win a seat in the legislature.

nummy...said the cannibals

Maybe Ms Clark will run in Gordo's riding. I cant beleive that he would stay in the Legislature as an MLA. He is eligible for a huge pension, and there is no reason for him so stay. In fact I suspect that most people in the legislature do not like him, and now that he is no longer the Premier they might just let him know how they feel.

He will move off into the sunset and never look back on the chaos he has left behind.

BC Rail, Basi, Virk, Minimum wage, Appurtency, Olympic fiasco. Huge debt, HST, the list goes on.

Bell and Bond will keep their heads down, and start to suck up to Ms Clark, hoping to hang on to their Cabinet Posts, however that is unlikely to happen. Clark will have to bring in a whole new team if she really expects to make changes.

She'll quit once the heat in the kitchen gets too much to bear. Wonder what she'll do with the HST if she is so tuned into the families like never before....

When she started her campaign she said the HST is a "good tax". She never said who it was good for.

During her acceptance speech she made mention of a referendum on the HST in June. That would be a good thing. The HST is like an albatross on the backs of these Liberals, and they have to get if off, before they can move forward.

Once the HST is gone, they can try and get ready for an election in 2013, or Ms. Clark may call an election earlier. I somehow suspect it will be earlier, because if she won, she would have a new mandate, and be her own person.

Winning of course will not be that easy.

"He will move off into the sunset and never look back on the chaos he has left behind"

Very funny!

Maybe Gordon can go to work for Jimmy like B.C. premier Glen who resigned, rode off into the sunset and never looked back on the chaos he had left behind!

Doesn't he already?

Maybe not. Ex-Premier Glen would be just the kind of guy who'd end up being "Top Car Salesman of the Month". And ex-Premier Gord would be that low man on the car sales totem pole that Jimmy fired!

Its not hard to figure our what Gordon Campbell is interested in.

When the legislation to recind the PST and institute the HST was tabled in the legislature, and voted on, Mr. Campbell was at a Premiers meeting in Alberta, even though this legislation (according to him) was the most significant legislation in the history of BC.

When the successfull petition on the HST was verified by Elections BC and the results forwarded to the Government, he was in California jawing with *Conan* Swartzenegger.

When Christie Clark was elected as the new Premier of BC he was in Washington DC hobnobbing with who knows???

One thing is certain, he is never around unless he has the opportunity to blow his own horn.,

Thank God and Greyhound he's gone.

If she were smart, which she is not, she'd call an election for the week after the NDP chooses its new leader. That would be her best chance, maybe her only chance, for survival.

Rita Johnston's big mistake when she replaced Bill Vander Zalm was waiting too long, and letting that other sour-graped, Socred leadership hopeful, Grace McCarthy, try to knife her from within.

Rita should've advised the Lieutenant-Governor to call an election right away, right after she was sworn in as Premier. If she'd done that, she'd have won, and we'd have been spared the NDP experience, and the greater horror that's replaced it.

Going for election right away eliminates the need for Madame Premier to chance a by-election, or have to appoint a stand-in in the Legislature if it's still in session before she can get elected.

And it avoids having her leadership opponents plotting to get rid of her before 2013. Which, in all likelihood, won't be that hard to do when her obvious incompetence re-surfaces. She was completely hopeless when she was in Cabinet previously ~ all she did was annoy with her arrogant, know-it-all attitude.

Also it negates the necessity for her to actually do anything about the HST right now, and risk alienating the big-business moneybags the Liberals need to fund them. The ones who'll likely sue to prevent the outcome of any Referendum from ever replacing the HST with the PST again. There is no legislation that makes the Referendum's results binding if we vote HST out, and the it is a Federal law in any case. It could take years to get rid of it if it got tied up in Court with no pressure from either government to force a decision. Meanwhile, we pay, and pay, and pay.

Civility aside, Prince George, I think the "b" word is entirely appropriate in her case, and I'm sure it won't be long before many others will, too.

noting 250 kicks the local rag's website in getting the news out...

You are all pathetic. I did not vote for Christy Clark but many obviously did. The people spoke. So for heavens sake give her a chance. You all seem to complain about everyone. Grow up!!!!!

lol, in regards to the citizen i completely agree. It is a complete waste of space....as is its editor.

"The Leader of a Political Party in Canada, and BC is automatically the Premier of the Party if the party gets elected. Christy has been elected leader of the party, so she is now Premier."

She is NOT the premier!!!! It is pathetic how few know how the system works. In the case of the province, a new leader of a party in power is just that, the leader of the party in power and the premier-designate.

Gordon Campbell is still the premier of BC.

Since the premier is appointed by the lieutenant-governor, Clark will not be the premier until he appoints her.

http://www.theprovince.com/business/questions+premier+designate+Christy+Clark/4354092/story.html

She will do just fine. She is a obviously a "tough little cookie" who knows how to handle herself. The right wingers in the party have a choice, stay and fight the next election as a BCLiberal or quite and go to the new right wing party ... or re-assemble as what they really are, Reform or whatever. If they do that, of course, they will not form government after the next general election. That will be for either the BCLiberals or the NDP to do. We could very well end up with a minority government.

I like the idea of a fixed voting day. But it looks like that is up for grabs.

Campbell should give up his seat and let her run there.

Socredible .... you are obviously very bitter that your social credit people, disguised as BCLiberals, were taken over by a true Liberal just as your people took over the Party that Gordon Wilson got onto the political map in BC.

Your anger is showing loud and clear ..... LOL

Let's face it, all that mumbo jumbo about each riding getting the same number of points, thus benefitting the hinterland ridings, really was an unimportant factor. People really did not seem to realize that the more densely populated areas of the province had the most ridings. That is what was key, not the number of people who were BCLiberal members in those ridings.

I would like to see the vote breakdown in each riding. Clark should be interested in that as well because it is likely a good indicator where her strengths and weaknesses are across the province.

I think we are all assuming the vote wasn't rigged.

Lets remember that over 40,000 BC liberals failed to receive the PIN in time to vote, and that is likely more than 40% of potential BC liberal voters.

The vote was conducted by a foreign corporation and not Election BC leaving open all sorts of problematic questions of legitimacy for something as important as the premiership of the province.

Christi Clark is not a member of the elected legislature, and thus has no real legislative authority over her caucus other than that of the political organization in which she heads... until such time as she at minimum wins a bi-election to become a sitting member of the legislature.

Her support after three rounds represents less then 1% of general election voters in this province.

She requires consent of the Lieutenant Governor, which for the reasons above could be problematic. Having an unelected head of government would be a precedent in BC that would reflect poorly on the Monarchy if it was to choose to stake its future in backing that type of precedent.

I agree with Gus though that scrutiny of the vote make up and the issues around members in standing missing out on the vote due to the PIN issue would be very illuminating. It was a close race and a few missing PIN numbers could have made all the difference in the world.

Opinionated,I did not vote for her,only a fraction of 57,000 out of 92,000 liberals voted for her.I don't have to give her a chance,but I will as I believe everyone deserves an opportunity to show that they may actually have changed,and that they can do the job better than the previous person.

P.S.-I am really happy that it isn't Kevin Falcon leading the province!

Who cares. There is no person/party in BC politics worth the hot air they blow out there mouths so really does it matter? The NDP are a joke, I actually kinda feel sorry for them and the Liberals are slimy. The bigger problem yet is 1/3 to 1/2 of the voters in BC shouldn't be allowed to vote for whats for lunch never mind a government. We are doomed.

Just go to work, quit talking about it

I sure am glad this site forbids foul language and attacks on other opinionators.
metalman.

How many party members never got a pin number?

I think it is too bad that Christy Clark got in. I think she will drag the Libral party down. If she drags it down far enough then we will end up with NDP, and that will totally kill B.C.

I really hope I am wrong.

Pval,
I will sit and wait for her to start lying to us...just like those before her and those that will follow.

It does not matter what party is in, they all lie, but the Liberals are better then the alterative. I just wish they had of picked a different leader.

Andyfreeze:"How many party members never got a pin number?"

Andy, give it a rest! Why would that be of any concern to you, one who expresses his extreme loathing of anything and anyone BC Liberal on an almost daily basis?

Be glad that the BC Liberals are just ordinary humans with some faults, not the super perfect Super Beings like the opposition claims to be!

That way your chances of defeating your enemies are that much better!

Every card carrying member got several phone calls, letters and emails from the party.

There were several telephone help lines and a party website where it took only a few keystrokes to verify and obtain (if necessary) a new pin number.

In fact, it was a very well supervised and coordinated effort, monitored by independent auditors.

It's over, done.

Gus:-"Socredible .... you are obviously very bitter that your social credit people, disguised as BCLiberals, were taken over by a true Liberal just as your people took over the Party that Gordon Wilson got onto the political map in BC."
------------------------------------------

No, Gus, I personally believe there are NO 'real' Social Credit people in the modern day BC Liberal Party. None at all. So the contest for that Party's leadership was strictly amongst those who call themselves Liberals, (even though they may not hold to the traditional philosophy usually associated with a 'Liberal' Party.)

And I had no favorites amongst those running, though I do think Christy Clark is a bigger phoney than the rest. As I'm sure we'll soon find out. In my opinion, the selection of any one of them as Premier can't help but be a continuing disaster for BC. She, and the whole idea of deceptive, big money, political machine type politics that she pretends she doesn't embody ~ but really does, even more so than the others ~ is completely repulsive to me.

The original concepts of "liberalism", which promoted small business, and a competitive, free-market economy with appropriate regulation to keep it from becoming too 'dog-eat-dog', and those with rising economic power from taking undue advantage of it to hold down others, CANNOT be made to work under the current financial set-up.

Those who promote it either fail to realise that, and are naive in their blissful ignorance as they promise what cannot be achieved; OR, they DO realise that, and are using the promise as a cover to achieve other purposes. There's too much ' big-money' behind Madame-Premier-to-be for naievety.

Please settle down " Folks " , stop the personal stuff and the language or we will get out the knife and cut some privileges.

We have cut you lot's of slack , use that with some sense.

Having an "unelected" head of government has happened numerous times in the past. One Canadian Prime Minister was a member of the Senate, and there is no reason why any other Senator could not hold that post. Or anyone else, for that matter, so long as they had the confidence of the majority of the elected Members of the House of Commons. Or in BC as Premier, the majority of the BC Legislature.

In the 1935 Alberta election, William Aberhart, the leader of the Alberta Social Credit League, didn't even run for election as a MLA. Yet he became Alberta Premier when the League swept the polls. He was subsequently elected in a by-election.

In the 1952 election, the BC Social Credit League ran with a "campaign leader", Rev. Ernest Hansel, and an agreement amongst those running that if elected government a Premier would be chosen from amongst those elected to the Legislature. Hansel lost in the riding he contested, and the Socred caucus wisely chose WAC Bennett their leader. A Premier or Prime Minister is technically only the chief 'advisor' to the Crown. And this is as it should be.

Our system is a wonderfully flexible system. It is one of the great advantages we enjoy over our neighbours to the south. The 'checks and balances' within our system are embodied in the Crown, which holds the three powers any ultimate executive authority should be restricted to in its relationship with those elected ~ to be consulted, to advise, and to warn.

"I think we are all assuming the vote wasn't rigged."

I do not think we all assume that. What we all assume however, is that you think it was ... that was self evident when they first called the election. :-)

I am guessing that Clark is the lesser of the four evils. Falcon would have been a Campbell clone and who would want more of that.

Christy Clark is up to her armpits in the BC Rail fiasco and is still trying to cover it up like a cat does in it's litter box.

She was Deputy Premier when it all came down, her brother's office was one of those raided in Victoria because of insider information from Virk, and her current campaign Manager (Patrick Kinsella) was an insider "business advisor" for BC Rail at the time.

No BC Rail Executive has ever been able to describe the work he actually did for his $297,000 pay cheque.

Until I am proven otherwise, I do not trust this person to lead this province.

great, a ndp'er in a liberal suit.

I agree with you,Pylot Project.
Too many skeletons in Clark's closet, and I have a feeling that the Liberal old boys club are going to drop a few bombs on her.
She is going to have a tough row to hoe.
It is not nice to mess with the Campbell Liberal insider's circle, of which she is not a member.
Clark barely squeaked in, and that tells me there was a concerted effort by the Liberal big guns to keep her out.
Now,they will try another way to get at her.
This is going to get very interesting.
All she had to do was answer the questions about B.C.Rail,but instead,she simply ignored them.
That tells me,like so many others who have done the same,Clark knows more than she is telling.