On July 14, local members of the Green Party of Canada will decide who will represent them in October’s federal election. The Kootenay-Columbia riding has two hopefuls seeking the nomination.
Nelson resident Abra Brynne has lived and worked in the Kootenays for 30 years, and has a background advocating for issues around food access and sustainability.
Brynne says she is no stranger to trying to change policy.
“This is the first time that I’ve decided to throw my hat into the ring, so to speak, to actually go to the other side, and not be an advocate on behalf of policy but to actually do my best to work within and see if we can help improve the policy landscape for Canadians in the coming decade.”
She feels her past work experience has provided a good understanding of what matters to voters.
“I think it’s given me an opportunity to understand a host considerations that communities care about in terms of everybody’s ability to live well in their communities. And that’s about reliable jobs, it’s about healthy food, good schools, good education and opportunities for our children. It’s about weather and all kinds of things.”
Fernie resident Kerri Wall is the other candidate.
She’s worked for Interior Health for the past 10 years, which sparked her interest in running for office.
“I work in something called the healthy communities program, which means I work on healthy public policy with local governments. That’s municipal, planning, and policy. I work a lot with elected officials and municipal staff around the Kootenays and I really enjoy my job and I’ve really had a taste for politics because of that,” Wall said.
The 47-year-old also wanted to see more diversity on the voter ballot this fall.
“The declared candidates were all men in their 60’s and I thought, wait, that’s just not enough diversity, what’s going on. So, I looked to see what the Greens were doing. They were looking for people to run for the nomination and I was really excited to work with party that’s talking about the climate emergency, because that’s a top priority for me.”
You can meet them both at the Hume Hotel in Nelson on June 25 at 7:00PM.