Glen Clark

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Glen David Clark
Vancouver-Kingsway Vancouver East (1986-1991)
In office October 22, 1986 – May 16, 2001 Serving with Robert Arthur Williams (1986–1991)
Preceded by	Dave Barrett Alexander Macdonald
Succeeded by	Rob Nijjar
President & COO of the Jim Pattison Group
Incumbent
Assumed office 2002
Personal details
Born	(1957-11-22) November 22, 1957 (age 66) M.A. )
Occupation	Politician, retail executive
Profession	Policy consultant

Glen David Clark (born November 22, 1957) is a Canadian retail executive and former politician who served as the 31st premier of British Columbia from 1996 to 1999.

Early life and education

Clark attended independent Roman Catholic schools, namely St. Jude’s Elementary and Notre Dame Secondary in East Vancouver. At Notre Dame, Clark was known as a small, fearless linebacker for the football team. He was also student council president and played the lead male role in The Sound of Music and later performed in South Pacific.^[1] Clark earned a bachelor's degree from Simon Fraser University and a master's degree from the University of British Columbia. Before entering politics, he was part of the labour movement and worked as a natural resource policy consultant.^[2]

Premier of British Columbia

Clark was first elected to the

, the NDP was able to hold on to power by winning all but eight seats in Vancouver.

Clark largely continued the policies of the Harcourt government, particularly its implementation of the B.C. Benefits welfare reform package, similar to reforms carried out by Ralph Klein in Alberta and Mike Harris in Ontario. When the 1997 party convention adopted a motion condemning the reforms and calling for an increase in welfare rates, Clark responded, "No. We have a deficit."^[3]

Scandals

Fast ferry scandal

Clark undertook the B.C. fast ferries initiative, which was designed to upgrade the existing

Casinogate

In March 1999, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police executed a search warrant and searched the Clark household.^[5] The media was tipped off about the raid, and BCTV showed live, primetime coverage of the premier pacing inside his house while the search was conducted. Two weeks later the RCMP conducted a search of the Premier's Office.^[6]

The subsequent investigation spawned intense coverage by the media.^[7] However, subsequent coverage also exposed numerous inaccuracies in the way the story was initially portrayed, with some critics alleging a media or RCMP conspiracy to smear him for ideological reasons.^[8]

Clark resigned suddenly on the night of August 21, 1999, following allegations that he had accepted favours (in the form of free renovations worth $10,000, which he had actually paid for) from Dimitrios Pilarinos in return for approving a casino application.^[9] He was later formally charged with committing breach of trust, a criminal offence.^[10]

Conflict of interest commissioner H.A.D. Oliver concluded in 2001 that Clark had violated conflict of interest laws in British Columbia.^[7] However, Clark was acquitted of all criminal charges by the Supreme Court of British Columbia on August 29, 2002,^[10] with Justice Elizabeth Bennett ruling that while Clark had unwisely left himself open to a perception of unethical behaviour, there was no solid evidence that he had actually done anything illegal.^[11]

After political life

Upon Clark's resignation, Deputy Premier

, winning just two seats.

In 2001 Jim Pattison hired Clark to manage his Neon Products Company. Later, Clark was president and chief operating officer of the Jim Pattison Group in Vancouver until he stepped down at the end of 2022.^[12][1]

References

External links