Christy Clark said she could have taken more time to talk to Linda Higgins, a citizen who drew enormous attention online when she confronted the BC Liberal leader and said she wouldn’t vote for her last week.
Clark said as much in an interview with Vancouver radio station CFOX on Monday.
“In retrospect, yeah of course, I wish I’d stopped and spoken to her,” Clark told the Jeff O’Neil Show.
“I normally try to, but the thing is, you go to these things and they’re just whipping through, and there’s 100 people to talk to, and I do move a little bit quickly.”
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Higgins, a Sunshine Coast resident, became a prominent name in B.C. media after a CBC News reporter tweeted video of an encounter between her and Clark in a North Vancouver grocery store last week.
The video showed Clark circulating in the store before Higgins greeted her and said, “I would never vote for you.”
Clark quickly responded, “You don’t have to. That’s why we live in a democracy.”
“Yeah, thank goodness,” Linda said. “Hopefully, you won’t get elected in.”
Clark subsequently walked away and talked to other potential voters in the store.
The encounter helped to spark a hashtag, #IAmLinda, that became a rallying point of sorts for people opposed to the BC Liberal leader.
It also inspired backlash from BC Liberal supporters who accused Higgins of being an NDP plant.
Higgins denied being an NDP plant, or even a card-carrying party member in an interview with The North Shore News.
She said she made a spontaneous decision to speak to Clark, and didn’t mean to be disrespectful.
“I think it’s important for her to hear from the Joe Average voter,” Higgins said.
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