Colin Hansen won’t seek re-election
Posted September 21, 2012 6:03 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Another well-known provincial Liberal is calling it quits.
Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Colin Hansen will not run in the May 2013 election.
“After 17 years, I think it’s time to make room for someone else to step forward”
That was the reason given to leave politics, now the fourteenth MLA to quit, but he insists he is not abandoning the BC Liberals, and will act as campaign manager in the hopes of getting them re-elected.
He says this decision has nothing to do with the premier not giving him a cabinet role.
“I fully understood the reasons why, and I have enjoyed the work I have been able to do outside of cabinet.”
He says he is not yet sure what his future holds.
Political Scientist Norman Ruff says there may be a silver lining here for the premier. “He’s leaving one of the safest seats, so it paves the way, potentially, for Christy Clark to persuade someone high-profile to run for the Liberals.”
Hansen recognizes the impact the HST had on the party while he was finance minister and takes full responsibility.
“With regards to the HST issue, we did not do an adequate job in how decisions were made and how they were implemented and, as the Minister of Finance at the time, I take the responsibility for that,” reads a statement from Hansen.
“Many became convinced that we had planned the HST from before the election and that we had explicitly promised during the election that it would not be introduced. Neither of these perceptions is true and I accept responsibility for not being able to correct the public perception.”
“As a member of the BC Liberal team, I am also proud of what has been accomplished under the leadership of Premier Christy Clark,” he adds.
He was first elected to the Legislature back in 1996.
This comes just weeks after several high profile MLAs like Kevin Falcon, George Abbott, and Blair Lekstrom announced they too would not run again.
