Christy Clark was born and raised in Burnaby by her mother Mavis, a family counselor, and her father Jim, a school teacher and guidance counselor.
Clark was first elected to the legislature in 1996 as MLA for Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain. During the next five years, she served as the Official Opposition critic for the environment, children and families and for the public service.
When the BC Liberals formed government she was appointed Minister of Education and Deputy Premier in 2001, became Deputy Premier at the time of the privatization of BC Rail, and in 2004 was appointed Minister of Children and Family Development.
