BC Conservative leadership candidate Sheldon Clare has made it clear that if he wins, the party will not waver on its core values.Clare, who currently serves as MLA for Prince George-North Cariboo, said while it's important to ensure everyone is welcome under the big tent, that cannot come at the expense of principles."We brought lots of people in the fold," he told the Western Standard. "I think the argument is where do you put the tent? I mean, everybody wants a good sized tent and they all want to bring as many people in — and I want to say everybody's welcome — but we're not here to shift our values."Clare maintained that voters "need to come and see that our values are what is needed in BC to make BC progress and to make BC a prosperous place for all British Colombians."As for his personal politics, Clare described himself as a "hardware store conservative.""I believe you get up in the morning, you go to work, you make your money, you pay your bills, you pay your taxes, and you get stuff done," he explained. "I learned that for my parents. They installed a pretty good work ethic into me ... I've always tried to bring that kind of work ethic to everything I do."Before entering politics, Clare was an educator, teaching history at the College of New Caledonia in his hometown of Prince George since 1993. He also served as the chair of the provincial Bargaining Co-ordination Committee. Clare is also a reserve army officer, and served as the president of Canada's National Firearms Association from 2010 to 2021.All of this, he told the Western Standard, gives him a "good breath of experience to reach across the political spectrum and attract a variety of people.".Clare made it clear, however, that he's "always been blue.""I've always been someone who's held conservative values," he said. "I'm a very much a believer in fiscal responsibility, that you shouldn't be spending more than you're taking in, and that you have to be accountable for the taxpayer dollars, and that the province can't be a place where the money's made in the interior and in the north, and it's spent just in the south."Clare said he believes "all British Colombians should be getting the same level of services that they're paying for," and that "these services and infrastructure requirements in the province need to be allocated fairly, and fiscally responsibly.""I'm running because I have skills that I believe are going to be able to make a difference and to bring the Conservative Party into a position where it is, in fact, a government in waiting," he said, noting that whoever wins will pick up the torch lit by former leader John Rustad."John Rustad did amazing things to get us to where we were," Clare explained. "It would not have been possible to achieve what we did without the hard work that he and his wife, Kim, put in to make the party the success that it became."He argued that Rustad "got to where he became limited in what he could accomplish," but that the party has "turned a page on that, and we're moving forward with a process to select a new leader and enhanced vision."Under Rustad's leadership, five MLAs either left the party or were kicked out. When asked whether he would invite them back in, Clare said he would have to "look at the behaviour that they've engaged in," as well as "the attitudes of the caucus.".Among those who got the boot was Dallas Brodie, who went on to form OneBC with fellow former-BC Conservative MLA Tara Armstrong. They have since broke up, with Brodie taking control of the now unofficial party."I think that voters who would have voted that way, who were unhappy with some of the things they were hearing or perceiving from the Conservatives, they're going to very quickly realize that the Conservative Party is their best home, the best option to beat the NDP and form government," Clare said of OneBC supporters. "OneBC isn't even a party with status in the house anymore, since they have their own internal problems — and quite frankly, our focus is on the NDP, not on anything else.".Yuri Fulmer officially launches bid for BC Conservative leadership.Among his competitors for leader are businessman Yuri Fulmer and political commentator Caroline Elliott. Many in the latter's recently announced leadership team hail from eastern Canada. Among those she's hired is Kory Teneycke, who served as Ontario Premier Doug Ford's campaign manager and former prime minister Stephen Harper's director of communications."I'm not sure why all these people are in here working for her unless they're trying to install that Ford-style 'red Tory' in BC," Clare said, adding, "I don't think that is what we need.""There's nothing wrong with bringing in expertise from other places — I think everybody does that from time to time — but when most of your team is from away, I think that's probably a concern," he continued. "Couldn't you build a support network in the province? You have to import everything and then just hope that you can rebuild some Liberal ties to support you? I mean, that's what it looks like to me."
