The NDP are ready for the campaign.
On Saturday, party members selected Falkland’s Jacqui Gingras as the Okanagan-Shuswap candidate for the 2015 federal election.
“I am honoured, excited and prepared to carry forward the fight for everyday Canadians living in Okanagan-Shuswap,” she said.
Also seeking the nomination was Richard Smiley of the North Shuswap.
Gingras says her focus over the next six months will be to meet people in the riding and develop a better sense of their priorities and concerns.
“People I have spoken with across our riding have shared with me their concerns about the environment, about jobs and about our future,” she said.
“Based on the federal Conservatives recent debacles, we have a strong case to make for change. We can’t continue in the same way and expect different outcomes.”
Gingras lives with her spouse and two children near Falkland and she is a tenured professor at Ryerson University in Toronto.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in dietetics and a masters’ degree in nutrition and metabolism. She also has a doctorate in education and teaches sociology courses and researches the social impacts on health systems.
“I am a community advocate and coalition builder,” said Gingras, who was born in Kelowna and raised in Oyama.
“For example, I led the formation of an international group of scholars, activists and students committed to a more equitable and democratic approach to nutrition and food.”
Gingras says she is looking forward to the upcoming election campaign.
“I’m running to represent the good people of Okanagan-Shuswap because they deserve better representation than what they’ve received in the past,” she said.
A nomination process is currently underway for the federal Conservatives in the riding.
