Yuri Fulmer has officially announced that he is running to be the next leader of the BC Conservatives.While others have teased campaigns, the businessman is the first to throw his hat in the ring.In an interview with the Western Standard, Fulmer cited his experience in the business world and the fact he's not a career politician as evidence that he would make a good leader."I have spent my life doing things other than politics — building a business, doing a lot of community work, doing a lot of community building, and obviously raising a family," he said, "so I hope that all of those experiences combined equip me to be the next premier."Fulmer added that "the advantage of being a bit new to this is I'm going to find my own way through it.""I don't feel obliged to anything from the past," he explained, "so I've got a remarkably baggage- free — politically baggage free — past. I'm ready to roll."When asked what else separated him from previous leader John Rustad, Fulmer painted himself as a team-builder."I think what I've spent my career doing is building teams," he said, "getting diverse groups of people to both get along , to set common goals, and to work towards common goals, and I think I've also spent my career listening to people who were a lot smarter than me."."What I'd do both as leader and as premier is I'd listen to British Columbians, hear what they have to say, hear about the issues that are important to them, and then work with the team both in caucus and in the legislature to fight for the things that British Columbians want us to fight for," Fulmer added.He made it clear his goal was to "pull together the big blue tent" — including bringing OneBC voters back into the fold — by presenting the party as "the only credible alternative" to the BC NDP."If we're going to be fractured, we're going to keep losing elections," Fulmer warned, "so we need to present an absolutely unified front and we need to go to bat for a number of issues that are important in British Columbians."Ideologically, Fulmer described himself as a "staunch conservative," but noted that in order to win, "we need to have a tent right of centre where we welcome anybody who wants to be part of a Conservative government.""We need to present a unified right of centre coalition that's appealing," he declared..In his campaign launch video, Fulmer pointed to a number of issues that have gotten worse over the past few years."I don't understand how this government thinks," he told the Western Standard. "They spend money in a way that no government in British Columbian history has spent money, they run up debt and a deficit that we've never seen before in the province ... a lot of talk, a lot of taxpayers' money spent on these problems, and we seem to be worse off than we've ever been."Fulmer noted that after 34 years living in BC, it's only recently that he's started to feel unsafe."I'm a 6'2, 200 pound man," he added. "If I feel unsafe, then a lot of people really feel unsafe on our streets.".Fulmer was born in Perth, Australia in 1974 to parents from Down Under and the Great White North, and arrived in Vancouver eighteen years later. Before long, he worked his way up from drive thru attendant at an A&W on the North Shore to eventually overseeing dozens of fast food and restaurant franchises across western Canada. In 2010, he founded Fulmer & Company, which has invested in a number of businesses in industries ranging from tech to manufacturing. Aside from his business ventures, Fulmer has done a fair amount of work in other sectors as well. He currently serves as chairman of United Way and chancellor of Capilano University. At a community level, he has volunteered with numerous organizations and events, including the Celebration of Light, which he helps oversee as co-chair. He has also made a name for himself in the philanthropy community via the Fulmer Foundation.Fulmer has received numerous awards, including the Order of British Columbia, the BC Community Achievement Award, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the Spirit of Vancouver Award.
