‘Never said I was going to close the door on politics forever’: Christy Clark on interest in federal leadership run

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces growing pressure from within his own caucus to step aside, former B.C. premier Christy Clark says she is open to returning to politics.

“I have never said, from the minute I left politics, that I was going to close the door on politics forever,” she told Vassy Kapelos on CTV’s Power Play in her first comments since releasing a statement to CTV News earlier this week stating she wants to be “part of the conversation on the future direction of the Liberal Party.”

But Clark, who is a weekly panelist on CTV’s Power Play, also acknowledges the Liberal leader position isn’t available right now.

“The prime minister has decided he wants to stay. He’s going to stay,” she said. “There’s no job open.”

When asked if Trudeau should step aside, Clark said he “has the right” to remain as leader.

“The party maintains confidence in him and he’s the leader of the party. He says he’s going to run, and Liberals across the country need to support him in doing that,” she said, adding that there must be unity within the Liberal party to fight Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

In her statement on Monday, Clark said she has been “listening to Canadians and Liberals across the country” and is hearing that “Canadians are fed up with politicians who think sowing division is an acceptable path to victory.”

Her latest comments on Power Play come a day after a high-stakes Liberal caucus meeting, in which at least 24 Liberal MPs formally asked Trudeau to step aside. Despite the caucus challenge, Trudeau has vowed he will remain as party leader.

Clark, who served as B.C. premier between 2011 and 2017, said she’s familiar with being in a caucus where there are lots of “vigorous discussions.”

“I can tell you, the caucus that I led was a coalition of people from all different parts of the province and hugely different views,” she said. “This is sometimes what happens inside the room.”

You can watch CTV Power Play’s full Front Bench panel with former B.C. premier Christy Clark at the top of this article.

With files from CTV News’ Stephanie Ha and Spencer Van Dyk