Former BC Premier Christy Clark has joined a Vancouver law firm
Former British Columbia Premier Christy Clark is now a member of one of Canada’s largest business law firms.
Bennett Jones LLP announced today that Clark has joined the team as a Senior Advisor in the firm’s Vancouver office.
The firm notes that Clark’s economic leadership under her premiership opened new global markets for business and created a more diversified economy.
“Christy’s leadership as Premier took British Columbia to new economic heights,” said Hugh MacKinnon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bennett Jones, in a statement. “Her vision on driving growth through trade is one that our clients share. Vancouver is a thriving market and a strategic focus for Bennett Jones and we are very pleased to welcome Christy to the firm.”
Clark will join the firm’s governmental affairs and public policy team, which includes former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada Anne McLellan, former Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, former Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister Edward Goldenberg, former Governor of the Bank of Canada David Dodge, former Canadian ambassadors to the United States Allan Gotlieb and Michael Kergin, and former Canadian ambasssador to the World Trade Organization John Weekes.
The firm also has offices in Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto, Beijing, Bermuda, and Doha.
“Joining Bennett Jones is an excellent fit,” said Clark. “The firm is helping clients seize opportunities in sectors such as infrastructure, technology and innovation, trade with Asia and natural resources. These are areas I am passionate about and worked on closely as Premier. Bennett Jones’ lawyers share the same passion for their work—they are creative and find solutions to complex matters. I am very excited to be a part of the firm.”
Former cabinet ministers and senior officials often move on to roles that centre around lobbying the provincial government, but a ban placed by the BC NDP last October prohibits these individuals from lobbying the provincial government for a period of two years after office.
The former Premier is not a lawyer, but she attended Simon Fraser University, The Sorbonne in Paris, and the University of Edinburgh for her undergraduate studies in political science and religious studies.
Her political career began in 1996 when she was elected to the legislative assembly for the riding of Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain. She became the Minister of Education and Deputy Premier upon the BC Liberal Party’s election victory in 2001 under Premier Gordon Campbell.
Clark left provincial politics in 2004 to spend more time with her then-young son, and the following year she lost her bid for the Non-Partisan Association’s Vancouver mayoral nomination to Sam Sullivan.
She had her own radio station show on CKNW between 2007 and 2010, before succeeding Gordon Campbell as Premier.
But her tenure as the province’s leader ended last year when the BC Liberals came one seat short for a majority in the legislature. The party was later ousted from its minority government power hold, just weeks after the 2017 election, when the Governor General asked the BC NDP and Green Party of BC alliance to form government.
Upon her resignation in July 2017, she became the longest-serving female Premier in Canadian history.