Former B.C. premier Christy Clark says she is stepping back from the race to replace Justin Trudeau as leader of the federal Liberals and prime minister. 

Clark said in a statement on her website Tuesday (Jan. 14) that she was able to put together an amazing team on short notice, but "there is simply not enough time to mount a successful campaign and for me to effectively connect with Francophone Canadians in their language."

She added she has worked hard on her French, but it's not where it needs to be today. 

Clark's decision to withdraw from the race comes just days after she backtracked from her claim that she was never a member of the federal Conservatives. Clark  denied in a CBC radio interview over the weekend that she had become a party member in supporting the failed 2022 leadership bid of former Quebec premier Jean Charest. Clark later said that she misspoke in the interview in acknowledging that she had backed Charest to stop current leader Pierre Poilievre from winning. 

UBC political scientist Stewart Prest last week called Clark's candidacy the "most intriguing part of the Liberal leadership race so far" but also added that Clark's denial about her former Conservative membership might have prematurely doomed her campaign before even getting off the ground as "it was a huge mistake trying to hide the Conservative membership." He said it "would been better to lean into it." 

Clark would have been arguably the most prominent voice from British Columbia to have participated in the process to find a new prime minister, having served as B.C.'s premier from 2013 to 2017, a period that overlapped with the early phase of Trudeau's tenure as prime minister set to end this spring after nearly a decade.

Clark's decision not to run leaves current federal energy and natural resources minister Jonathan Wilkinson as the most well-known British Columbian contemplating a run for Canada's top elected political office.

Clark's decision to withdraw denies British Columbians a chance to hear two contrasting positions on the federal carbon tax. Clark had said in the CBC interview that the federal carbon tax should be scrapped in taking a Conservative position that also enjoys popularity among many British Columbians. Wilkinson, meanwhile, has publicly committed himself to the policy. 

Voters in North Vancouver-Capilano first elected Wilkinson in 2015. He had served as federal minister of fisheries and minister of environment and climate change before receiving his current appointment in 2023.

Federal Liberals have yet to announce the rules for the upcoming leadership race, but several prominent names have already strongly hinted at their participation.  They include Mark Carney, who has headed the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, and Chrystia Freeland, Canada's former deputy prime minister and finance minister.

Experts consider Freeland's resignation from cabinet on Dec. 16 a pivotal moment in the events that eventually led to Trudeau's announcement that he would resign following the election of a new party leader. Trudeau's decision came after mounting evidence about his unpopularity among Canadians generally and federal Liberals specifically. 

-with files from Canadian Press and Wolf Depner