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Nowadays, Glen Clark is one of the most powerful businessmen in B.C.

As president and chief operating officer of the Jim Pattison Group, Clark is at the helm of the second-largest private company in Canada, with annual sales exceeding $10 billion.

But back in 1996, Clark was leader of the B.C. New Democratic Party, fighting for to retain power in an election that everyone thought he would lose.

The B.C. Liberals were then led by Gordon Campbell—and they started the campaign with a huge lead in the polls.

The leader of the B.C. Greens at that time was a whip-smart young environmentalist named Stuart Parker. If Parker siphoned off too many progressive votes, Clark's party was doomed.

In the end, the NDP went on to win the election, despite losing the popular vote. Clark's victory can be attributed in part to his party's slogan, "On Your Side", which contrasted the NDP with the very corporate B.C. Liberals of the day.

In 2000, Parker was ousted as leader of the B.C. Greens, about a year after Clark left office.

Even though they were rivals in 1996, Clark's name recently appeared on the list of donors to Proudly Surrey, which is a municipal party cofounded by Parker.

The former B.C. Green leader is running for Surrey council this year with Adam MacGillivray, Felix Konguy, and Parshotam Goel.

Clark's donation to Proudly Surrey—$200—isn't going to make or break the party's chances.

But nonetheless, it's still interesting, given that Proudly Surrey's campaign slogan is the very Jeremy Corbyn-ish "For the Many, Not the Few".

Clark might be one of B.C.'s uber capitalists nowadays, but he clearly hasn't forgotten where he came from—or his 1996 campaign slogan, which played up a similar theme as Parker's.