Biography
Christy Clark was officially sworn in as the Premier of British Columbia on March 14th, 2011.
Since becoming Premier, Christy has led the charge to advance her mandate of putting families first, of defending and creating jobs, and of creating a more open government.
Some of the key accomplishments under her leadership so far include:
- Developing Canada Starts Here: The BC Jobs Plan.
- Raising the minimum wage.
- A thorough review of BC Hydro that recommended cost saving measures allowing BC Hydro to reduce their rate increases by 50% over the next three years.
- Providing an injection of $15 million for charities and appointing Skip Triplett to examine a sustainable and predictable funding formula.
- Focusing government in on the importance of Asia as a trade partner.
- Continuing BC’s commitment to support innovators in the clean technology and renewable energy sectors.
- Developing the most comprehensive Open Data platform of a provincial government in Canada.
- Hosting town halls all over the province and using new technology to make this the most open government in BC history.
- Launching the most comprehensive health promotion program in Canada – the $68.7 million Healthy Families BC initiative.
Christy was born and raised in Burnaby by her mother Mavis, a family counsellor, and her father Jim, a school teacher and guidance counsellor. Like her parents, Christy has an extensive record of community involvement and leadership for British Columbia's families.
After graduating from Burnaby Senior Secondary, Christy studied at Simon Fraser University, the University of Edinburgh, and at the Université de la Sorbonne in Paris.
In 1996, she was elected to the British Columbia legislature where she distinguished herself as a passionate champion for families. This commitment continued when the BC Liberals formed government and she was appointed Minister of Education and Deputy Premier in 2001.
Christy took a break from politics in 2005 to spend more time with her family. She quickly established herself as a columnist with the Vancouver Province newspaper and commentator on CTV Newsnet. In 2007, she began the "Christy Clark Show" on CKNW radio.
Christy has earned a number of awards, including the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award for her work in politics, and for creating the anti-bullying campaign "Pink Shirt Day", she was named the 2009 Woman of the Year in BC by the Consumer Choice Awards.
Christy lives in Vancouver with her son.
