There are two places that Christy Clark, the politician, feels most comfortable.
One is on the floor of the legislature, amid the cut-and-thrust of Question Period, where her innate debating skills are on full display. The other is at party fundraisers, where she can be in full-throated partisan roar and soak up the love from her diehard supporters.
One of the biggest of these events was held this week in Vancouver: the annual leader's dinner. It is a gathering of the city's corporate elite, one that helps bring in nearly $1-million in donations. (Tables go for $10,000). That is, of course, in addition to the millions that many in the audience have donated individually to the Liberals over the past few years in a bid to ensure the government that furthers their own personal and business interests the best remains in power.
It was the last such power feast before next year's provincial election, and as such, the perfect platform for Ms. Clark to audition her campaign stump speech – one you will hear often in the coming months.
If those in the audience were looking for the Premier to deviate from the spectacularly successful pre-election playbook the provincial Liberals have used for well over a decade now, they were likely disappointed.
No, when you have the lowest unemployment rate in the country and you have balanced four budgets in a row, it's pretty obvious what you are going to make this campaign about: jobs, the economy and fiscal stewardship. History shows that any government that has those key things going for it will be tough to take down, regardless of scandals and controversies. Ms. Clark knows this too.
How much credit the Premier's government deserves for that hot economy is debatable. As noted economist Jock Finlayson told me in an e-mail: "A small, sub-national economy like B.C. is heavily influenced by exogenous forces, with domestic policies and actions typically playing a secondary role in determining overall economic conditions. Today, the main external factors buoying the B.C. economy are the currency, record low interest rates and the recovering U.S. economy. B.C. is also helped by the fact we are a big net importer of [cheaper] oil. Population growth and a robust housing sector are additional factors boosting our economy."
Not to mention an insane real-estate market that is also helping drive tens of millions of dollars into the economy, and the provincial treasury.
This is not to say the tax regime devised by former premier Gordon Campbell and reinforced by his successor has not played some role. But it is not nearly as big as Ms. Clark and her colleagues would like you to believe. Still, there isn't a politician in the country who would not be beating the same drum that the Premier intends to.
The finer points about who and what are responsible for the general state of the economy will be lost on 90 per cent of the people Ms. Clark talks to over the next while. People vote in their own self-interest, and the items most often topping the list of voters' concerns are jobs and the economy. The political baggage accumulated by a government after a lengthy time in office can sour voters. But unless they are convinced the alternative can protect their economic interests as well or better than the gang they are tempted to throw out, well, they won't throw them out.
The election of 2013 was a glorious example of that.
The thing about Christy Clark is she seems genuinely to look forward to the political phase she is about to enter: campaigner. (Many politicians absolutely loathe this duty). She has far better material to work with than she did in the last election, which makes her even more formidable. At the leader's dinner on Monday, she had great fun talking about the Leap Manifesto, the leftist document that calls for an end to resource development and a restructuring of the economy as we know it.
Premier Clark told the crowd that New Democrats across the country are now debating its merits, even here in B.C. – a blueprint for the future, she insisted, that would destroy the economy and everyone's wealth along with it. It is an observation that will almost certainly make its way into every campaign speech the Liberal Party Leader delivers between now and Election Day.
A year out from that date with history, Christy Clark looks as confident as ever.
Gary Mason