If it wasn’t for the pandemic, Sarah Bennett would not be running in this election.
“I enjoy politics but I have young kids and it certainly wasn’t on the agenda for this part of my life,” she said.
“I probably would have waited until I was a little bit older, but it definitely has been on my radar for a long time.”
She described her life in Invermere as blissful, but when the pandemic hit she looked up to see that she didn’t like what was happening with the world.
“I’m incredibly passionate about democracy and Canada and the Canadian way of life and I feel like it’s under threat at the moment,” she said. “From the last 18 months of policy around COVID and locking down things, shutting down society, wearing masks.”
READ MORE: Liberal candidate Robin Goldsbury campaigns in Cranbrook ahead of federal election
The People’s Party of Canada is the only party that is “pro choice,” Bennett said, allowing people to choose whether or not they want the vaccine and adamantly against the vaccine passport.
“It would basically track and trace our movements over time,” she said.
“People think that it is nothing, but it’s a gateway to a lot more government control and I don’t think that supports the Kootenay way of life.”
Bennett said people from across the riding have been reaching out to her and the party, worried about losing their jobs because they don’t want the vaccine.
READ MORE: NDP Wayne Stetski gets campaign rolling as writ dropped
“They don’t like the way things are going but nobody can talk about things and that is concerning to most people,” she said.
Bennett is a graphic designer. She has lived in Invermere for 20 years and served as a town councillor in 2005. She studied politics at McGill University.
She said she mostly agrees with the PPCs platform, which she described as values based that doesn’t change from election to election.
It is fiscally responsible and wants to bring back policy making to Canada instead of policies being made at a global level, she said.
READ MORE: Nelson brings Green Party values to the voters
“What I think is important is that we don’t divide our society into camps,” she said. “And that is clearly what is happening right now, but I think no matter what party we stand for, or what values we stand for, we should be working together to make a better community and a better country.”
Hear more from Bennett and the rest of the Kootenay-Columbia candidates at the Black Press online forum Sept. 10.
Submit questions to jocelyn.doll@revelstokereview.com.
