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| Margaret Thatcher - British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 -- "The Iron Lady" |
Let
me start off today with a quote from former British Prime Minister, Margaret
Thatcher:
“If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.”
These are
words, which when we read them all these years later, still ring true!
Now
compare the above to the words of Christy Clark following her win as the new
leader of the BC Liberal Party just over a year ago:
"I want you to be my partners in change in Victoria. I want you to be my partners in bringing open government. You can count on me to listen, you can count on me to engage, and you can count on me to make sure government really does include you. I have specific ideas on how to do these things but I also need to hear from you.”
How
many would agree that this change has indeed taken place in British Columbia since she became Premier of the province?
I
know there are many people, well not as many as a year ago, who think that Christy
Clark is one of the best leaders the so-called free enterprise coalition has ever seen.
I do
not share that opinion.
One
who does however, for reasons many cannot fathom, is Preston Manning … the
leader of Canada’s Reform movement, which went through a variety of
transformations to finally become today's Conservative Party.
Recently,
he went so far as to call Christy Clark Canada’s “Iron Snowbird”. In a news story from earlier this spring (B.C.
Premier Christy Clark lauded as 'iron snowbird') he had this rationale
behind the name:
