A BC Liberal MLA, once considered a star candidate when he first ran for election, has admitted he threatened to quit the party if Christy Clark stayed on as leader.
Darryl Plecas told The Abbotsford News on Friday that Clark and her leadership team鈥檚 鈥渢op-down, small-circle鈥� style and unwillingness to make decisions that might cost the party votes prompted his ultimatum, which took place at caucus retreat in Penticton shortly before the premier announced her resignation.
鈥淚 disagreed with the leadership, I wanted to see change and I wanted to make my point very forcefully because anyone who鈥檚 familiar with the history of the current leadership, there was no chance she was ever going to resign,鈥� he said.
Plecas, whose Abbotsford South riding extends as far west as 248th Street,, said he felt Clark and her political staff didn鈥檛 listen enough, weren鈥檛 willing to let politicians speak their minds, and should have used B.C.鈥檚 surpluses to address social concerns in the province.
He was first elected to the provincial legislature in 2013. A prominent criminologist, he was considered a lead candidate when he first ran for office. But although he led a panel on crime reduction in 2014, he was never appointed to cabinet, holding only a pair of lesser parliamentary secretary positions.
鈥淧eople need to have the opportunity to say what they really think,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat is the point of having somebody represent a local area, if you can鈥檛 speak freely about what you think the concerns are in your area?鈥�
In an extended interview, Plecas spoke at length about the BC Liberal leadership he served under and suggested decisions were often made with political calculations front-of-mind.
鈥淲hen people think of a leader, one of the things that comes to mind in politics is, 鈥榃e need someone who can win.鈥� Well, yeah, but for me that鈥檚 secondary to the right person, because 鈥� it鈥檚 not just about having the leader win, it鈥檚 about having people win in every one of their constituencies and doing the right thing. And that鈥檚 hard.鈥�
The interview wasn鈥檛 the first time recently Plecas has suggested in public that his party needs to head in a new direction.
On election day, he 鈥� and had to find ways to help the less fortunate. He reiterated that Friday.
鈥淲e have had a mindset that has not been especially helpful to the social side of things,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 have $6 billion of surpluses and not be doing things for people in need. To me, that鈥檚 not a stretch to do that.鈥�
He said individual biases and viewpoints will influence decisions, 鈥渂ut that鈥檚 a very different thing than saying, 鈥榃e need to win, we need to be in government, we need to do whatever it takes to do that.鈥欌��
Plecas gave as an example the BC Liberals in the province.
鈥淚n my mind, trophy hunting is fundamentally wrong. Like, it is wrong to kill an innocent animal simply so you can put its head on the wall. So, I don鈥檛 need to hear about all the political ramifications for that. I say, OK, there鈥檚 a collection of people out there whose livelihoods are affected by that. For me, the question becomes, 鈥極K, how do we do this in a manner that minimizes the negative impact on that?鈥欌��
Asked if the political ramifications determined the policy, Plecas said, 鈥淟et me just say, we ended up not supporting a ban, and you know, Adam Olsen from the Greens has proposed a ban 鈥� Well, I want to be able to stand up and say, you know what, I agree with Adam Olsen.鈥�
Plecas was reluctant to share details about his feelings toward Clark, but said her apparent inclination to remain as leader forced action.
鈥淚t was pretty clear she was going to stay on. It鈥檚 pretty harsh to say 鈥業鈥檓 leaving,鈥� but, you know, sometimes you have to be harsh.鈥�
He said some people within the Liberal caucus would make great leaders. But for his part, he said has no leadership aspirations himself 鈥渨hatsoever.鈥�
