Former Tri-Cities MLA announces bid to be next B.C. Conservative leader

A crowd of conservatives, campaigners, and curious observers packed a ballroom at the Executive Plaza Hotel Coquitlam Thursday morning to watch Iain Black throw his hat in the ring.

Black officially announced that he would run for leadership of the B.C. Conservative Party.

Having served as labour minister under Premier Gordon Campbell, Black has extensive experience in both politics and business, said Richmond-Bridgeport MLA Teresa Wat.

“He understands from experience how government actually works,” Wat said during her introductory remarks. “I know from my own experience that experience matters.”

Walking out to the strains of AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” Black discussed the need to end what he called: “NDP incompetence, intrusion, and financial mismanagement.”

In an approximately 15-minute speech, Black emphasized the need to boost B.C.’s economy by looking beyond Canada’s borders.

“This government has deliberately and decisively pulled away the welcome mat for global investment and job creation,” he said.

As of October 2025, B.C.’s unemployment rate was 6.6 percent.

B.C.’s Ministry of Finance previously projected economic growth of 1.3 percent in 2026, with exports hurt by U.S. tariffs.

Black accused the provincial government of delaying permits and rejecting pipelines, “making it harder to get our resources to the global markets.”

The leadership candidate emphasized the importance of getting products to market while discussing reconciliation.

“Achieving reconciliation cannot mean maintaining any approaches – yes, including [Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act] – that block getting our resources to tidewater,” he said, before being interrupted by applause.

Black spent a fair portion of the speech discussing the feelings of British Columbians.

“Everything feels harder. Everything feels heavier,” he said. “You find it unacceptable that, for the first time in human history, an entire generation is being conditioned to expect less than their parents.”

Younger generations are increasingly considering leaving the province, he said.

“The dream that your parents had: home ownership, a short commute, a secure future. It feels farther away, not closer.”

Black assured the crowd his experience meant he could make an immediate impact were he to be elected premier.

His beliefs, he explained are about more than attracting investment and bringing back good jobs, he told the crowd. “But to restore something deeper, much deeper: our confidence, our pride, our swagger.”

Other leadership candidates include Prince George-North Cariboo MLA Sheldon Clare, Rossland contractor Warren Hamm, entrepreneur Yuri Fulmer, and political commentator and reconciliation critic Caroline Elliott.

Black was twice elected Port Moody-Westwood MLA. He stepped away from politics in 2011 to take a role as chief executive officer of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.

In 2025, Black narrowly lost his bid for election to Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam incumbent Ron McKinnon.