Premier Christy Clark….Now, will the media please do their job?

By Harvey Oberfeld

There’s a really BIG difference between being an aspiring politician and being an elected one; and there’s a huge difference between being an aspiring premier and holding the office, especially when not elected to the post by the people. The people must therefore depend more than ever on the media to speak our concerns, raise our questions and canvass our issues.

And there is no question looming larger with Premier-designate Christy Clark than BC Rail: what did she know; who did she talk to. Why, when, what about, and, what actions, if any, did she or any member of her staff or her family or her political contacts and allies take in relation to the selling off of the railroad by the BC government?

The people have a right to know.

And now that Clark is Premier-designate, the media have a duty to inquire, dig and demand firm, concrete answers. not just generalized clips or dismissals.

This is not a witch hunt: this is simply about the truth: the whole story.

 I have previously said that, of all the candidates for the Liberal leadership, I always saw her as probably the one with the greatest chance of saving the party’s fortunes in the next provincial election.  And readers of this blog will recall I wrote about that Nov 30 in a piece entitled Run, Christy, Run!  And, of course,  I drew the wrath of the anti-Christy Clark forces both within and outside her party for saying what I believed.

I still believe what I wrote: for the Liberals,  Clark represents their best hope.

On a personal level, I also have quite liked Clark.  I always found her to be a good interview, easy to access  and great for clips. Real journalists don’t so much care about WHAT the interviewee says, as long as  they meet those stated criteria. (And, believe it or not, Gordon Campbell usually met those criteria as well)

Clark and I also worked together as the two judges of a particular category on the Webster Awards.  She was very good to work with--even fun. She had a great grasp of journalistic principles, and we found ourselves right in step as we whittled down the hundred or so applicants to determine the top three, and finally, the winner.

And I also found her former husband, Mark Marrisen, to be also most accessible and easily available strategists for the federal Liberals.  

So I have no ax to bear against Clark for any reason whatsoever. But along with power comes greater scrutiny--and lots of questions. 

Fortunately, for the media, blogger Alex Tsakumis has already done a lot of their groundwork on Clark and the BC Rail debacle. Terrific work!  Great journalism.  And all they have to do to get the info and lots of questions still needing answers is to go to Alex’s blog Rebel With a Clause.  You don’t even have to agree with all his conclusions to realize there ARE questions still to be answered.

This is too big a story and Clark now has too much power to just let this issue go.

Harv Oberfeld is a blogger and retired journalist. This column originally appeared in his blog, Keeping it Real. Reprinted with Mr. Oberfeld's kind permission.