Two previous sa国际传媒 premiers are pointing sa国际传媒 voters in different directions on election day.听
Gordon Campbell has endorsed Conservative Tracy Gray and Christy Clark has endorsed Stephen Fuhr.听
The opposing camps have secured what they believe to be the heavyweight endorsements as polls show the newly-created riding of sa国际传媒 is a toss-up between the Tories and the Liberals.听
The BC Liberals were considered for many years to be an alliance between the federal Liberals and federal Conservatives aimed principally keeping the NDP out of power in sa国际传媒 Campbell was premier from 2001 to 2011 before resigning. Clark was premier from 2011 until she was defeated by the NDP in 2017.听
Fuhr contacted local media this week to tell them he was getting an endorsement from Clark, who is expected to appear at his campaign office this afternoon. After former Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quit earlier this year, Clark briefly suggested she was interested in running for the leadership, but backed away from the idea when gleeful federal Conservatives pointed out she had previously held a membership in their party.听
Right-of-centre parties had long represented sa国际传媒 until Fuhr, a former RCAF pilot, won the riding for the Liberals in the 2015 election that saw many Conservative bastions fall as Trudeau won a majority government. Gray, a former city councillor, defeated Fuhr in the 2019 election, and was re-elected against a relatively unknown Liberal challenger in 2019.听
As news of Clarksa国际传媒 expected endorsement got around, Graysa国际传媒 campaign team apparently decided to seize the initiative and perhaps dominate the news cycle by issuing a release Wednesday morning stating she had been endorsed by Campbell.听
鈥淭here is a clear choice on April 28,鈥 Campbell said. 鈥淭he Liberal plan reinforces the status quo - stifling our resource sector, borrowing, spending, and taxing more - while increasing the debt our children and grandchildren will have to pay.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 afford a fourth term of Liberal decline,鈥 Campbell said. 鈥淚tsa国际传媒 time for a new Conservative government with fresh new ideas that will put Canada first. Tracy is the right choice for sa国际传媒 in this election.
鈥淎fter three terms of Liberal failure, everything costs more. Seniors are choosing between heating and eating, and young people have given up on the dream of home ownership,鈥 he said.听
鈥淲e need a positive economy that reignites opportunity. Tracy is your best representative in a new Conservative government that will put Canada back on the path to growth, opportunity, and security.鈥
The release says Campbell delivered eight straight balanced budgets, earned the province an AAA credit rating, and made sa国际传媒 a national leader in GDP growth. His government built the W.R. Bennett bridge across Okanagan Lake at sa国际传媒.听
From 2011 to 2016, Campbell was Canadasa国际传媒 High Commission to the U.K., having been appointed to the post by former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.听
At 3 p.m. Wednesday, Clark appeared at Fuhrsa国际传媒 campaign office to urge sa国际传媒 voters to elect him on Monday.听
鈥淪tephen has done such a good job for this community in the past and hesa国际传媒 going to continue that work when you re-elect him to Ottawa,鈥 Clark said.听
As a Liberal MP, Fuhr was able to secure a lot of federal grants for sa国际传媒, Clark said. He would do so again if the Liberals, as polls suggest they will, form a new government under Leader Mark Carney.
鈥淭his is the guy that we need to send to Ottawa,鈥 Clark said, drawing applause from several dozen people crowded into the campaign office. 鈥淗e has the history, the experience, to sit in Mark Carneysa国际传媒 cabinet representing the Interior of British Columbia.鈥
Clark has campaigned on behalf of Liberal candidates in several provinces. In January, Clark said she was interested in running to replace Trudeau and said she had never been a member of the federal Conservative party. Conservatives then produced a screenshot of her lapsed membership card.听
鈥淲ell, I misspoke. Sh*t happens. Lesson learned,鈥 Clark later posted on social media.
Asked Wednesday about her time as a Conservative party member, Clark said it was brief. She took out a membership only to vote against Pierre Poilievre in the Conservative partysa国际传媒 leadership race in 2022, Clark said. Poilievre won the leadership with a landslide victory on the first ballot.听
鈥淚 was a member for a couple of days, maybe a couple of weeks,鈥 Clark said. 鈥淭he reason I did it was because I wanted to stop Pierre Poilievre.鈥
Asked why she didn鈥檛 run for the Liberals herself in this federal election, Clark suggested it was a matter of timing. 鈥淲ell, I got around to it a little bit late deciding I wanted to seek a riding,鈥 she said.听
Asked about Campbell endorsing Gray while she was endorsing Fuhr said with a laugh: 鈥淕ord and I disagreed on a lot of things.鈥
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