VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Premier Christy Clark is standing by her comments, made in the spring, that Victoria has a “sick culture.”

“I meant the grounds of the Legislature, I want to be clear about that,” says Clark, speaking at a jobs-related news conference today. “My point was when a politicians sits in the grounds of the Legislature and spends most of their time there, they’re talking to pundits and they’re talking to each other.”

“It could become an enclosed bubble and some politicians like to spend all their time there, listening to pundits and talking to each other,” she adds.  “That’s not why I ran to become premier.”

Clark made the comments in an interview this spring, which have now resurfaced, and did not respond when asked if she will apologize for making them.

“You cannot build a government that responds to the needs of British Columbians if you’re not out there listening to them,” she says today.

Clark says elected people need to leave the confines of the House and interact with voters, and she stands by her decision not to hold a fall sitting of the Legislature on the same grounds.

The Liberals are slated to table a budget in the Legislature in February 2013 ahead of the May provincial election, but Clark won’t yet say how many days MLAs may spend in the House before voters go to the polls.

“I’ll let you know as we get closer to that.”

The NDP says the province is disrespecting democracy by not having a fall sitting.

“I think it’s embarrassing to BC democracy that the premier won’t face the Legislature,” said opposition leader Adrian Dix yesterday. “I think [Clark] is a very able debater and she should do that.”