Iain Black, photographed in Coquitlam, B.C., on Feb. 2, is looking to win a federal Conservative nomination in the Lower Mainland.Jimmy Jeong/The Globe and Mail
Former B.C. labour minister Iain Black is entering the race to run for the federal Conservatives in a Vancouver-area riding while former finance minister Mike de Jong says he is considering a bid.
The Conservatives, leading in public opinion polls, are drawing some high-profile candidates ahead of a federal election scheduled for the fall of 2025. Ellis Ross, a former B.C. Liberal cabinet minister who’s now a member of the legislature for BC United, has also announced he is running for the Tories in a northern B.C. riding. In Ontario, Parm Gill left his post as provincial red-tape reduction minister to run for the federal party.
Mr. Black was a labour minister during Gordon Campbell’s B.C. Liberal premiership, and later had a high-profile role in provincial affairs as the president and chief executive officer of the Vancouver Board of Trade, now the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.
Since 2019, he has been president and CEO of Maximizer Software Inc., which provides software to help businesses engage with their customers.
He is seeking the Conservative nomination in the riding of Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, which the Liberals have held since 2015, with Ron McKinnon winning 39 per cent of the vote in 2021 to 30 per cent for the Conservative candidates.
Meanwhile, Mr. de Jong, who endorsed Pierre Poilievre in the last Conservative leadership race, confirmed in a statement that he has been approached to run for the Tories. He said he is considering the possibility, but has not made any final decisions.
He has been a Fraser Valley member of the B.C. Legislature for 30 years in a political career in which he served in such cabinet posts as finance, health and attorney-general under B.C. Liberal premiers Christy Clark and Mr. Campbell.
Since the BC Liberals, which included federal Conservatives and Liberals among its members, lost power to the NDP in 2017, Mr. de Jong has been a member of the Official Opposition BC United, the renamed BC Liberals. An exit from provincial politics would present a new challenge for BC United, which has fallen behind the provincial Conservatives in polling.
Mr. Black, 56, noted that he has raised his family in the riding he is looking to represent, and that his provincial riding covered the area during his six years in the B.C. Legislature.
“I believe I’ve got a unique history of private-sector leadership, of experience in government, and as a parent of children. Having raised children in this community, I think I have got something to offer, and I want to do my part,” he said in an interview.
Of Mr. Poilievre, he said he has been impressed with the way the Conservative Leader has been able to engage with voters but acknowledged winning in his chosen B.C. riding won’t be easy.
“I’m going to have to work very hard to earn the trust of the citizens there. I take nothing for granted,” he said.
Political scientist Lori Turnbull said the more it looks like Mr. Poilievre is leading the Tories to a win in the next election, the more likely it is that candidates will be willing to risk secure jobs to give the party and politics a shot, she said.
High-profile candidates with previous political experience have the advantage of having been previously vetted so there are no surprises that would present complications for the Conservatives in the next election, said Prof. Turnbull, who is also the director of the school of public administration and a professor of political science at Dalhousie University. “It ends up being a safer way forward.”
The Conservatives did not respond to questions about nominated or prominent candidates.