Diane Janzen is resigning her seat on the Chilliwack city council to run as the Liberal candidate in the Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon riding.
“I want to send a very clear message that I’m very serious about this, about winning (voters) support, and I intend to put 24 hours a day into doing that,” she said Wednesday.
“I can’t wait to get out there and talk to the public about what they see as their priorities,” she said.
Janzen’s candidacy must still be approved by the party, but there are no other challengers in sight.
A well-known small-c conservative, Janzen did not see any discrepancy in running as a Liberal.
“If you look at my record, I’m a fiscal conservative and socially progressive,” she said. “I think it’s very reasonable that a wide spectrum of people can put their support behind that.”
And she believes Conservative voters in the riding, unhappy with the way the way that party’s nomination process in this riding was conducted, will find her a “viable alternative” for their vote.
“Politics is changing,” she said. “Once, you picked a party and voted for it for generations. Canadians have changed. They want to see results.”
The riding itself has also changed, she said, and now includes a wide variety of interests, including First Nation.
“I want to hit the ground running, and get out to talk to 112,000 people,” she said.
