The B.C. Conservative leadership race docket is beginning to take shape.
Prince George-North Cariboo MLA Sheldon Clare says he is stepping into the race to be the next B.C. Conservative Party leader.
“I believe that there needs to be a strong conservative voice in the leadership role, in the premier’s office, and I believe that I am that person who will provide that role and that voice,” Clare told Black Press Media in an interview.
Clare says he wants British Columbians to get “value for their money” from government.
“I’m a hardware store conservative,” he said. “I believe that you work hard and you produce, you contribute, and you help those who are in need.”
Clare’s announcement follows that of Yuri Fulmer, Capilano University chancellor and former Conservative candidate for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky. A Rossland contractor named Warren Hamm has also declared his intention to run.
Clare has worked for more than 30 years as an instructor at the College of New Caledonia, teaching business communications, history and English. He was also president of the National Firearms Association for 12 years, served as an army reservist, and has chaired the local chapter of the Alpine Club of Canada.
And he also chaired the New Caledonia faculty union’s bargaining committee.
“I have some credentials which one might find unusual for a conservative, but I’ve always been that way,” he said.
Clare also sought to highlight his blue bona fides, saying that he is running to take the party to the right by advocating for individual rights and freedoms.
“We are not going to be NDP-light,” he said. “We’re not going to be Liberal Party 2.0. We are the Conservative Party, and we are going to run on a conservative platform.”
Clare had good things to say about former leader John Rustad, whom he called a “remarkable person and a statesman,” who built the party from “basically nothing.” And Clare backed Rustad’s recent comments on a podcast that suggested the party is being taken over by B.C. Liberals.
“I think that John has some legitimate concerns in that regard,” Clare said.
Over the past year, five Conservative MLAs either left the party under Rustad, from both the left and right sides of the political spectrum. Regardless of their viewpoints on the issues, and despite his good personal relationship with each of them, Clare said he thought it would be difficult for them to return at this point.
“It does make it difficult to come back when the water under the bridge has been soiled a bit with some of the comments that have been made,” he said.
Clare called the announcement of his candidacy a “soft launch,” and does not have any public appearances scheduled yet. He said he expects to hold a formal in-person campaign launch in about two weeks in Prince George.