Two women have put their names forward to run for the New Democratic Party in the looming provincial election.
Anne Marie Sam will be seeking the party's nomination in Nechako Lakes and Nicole Halbauer in Skeena. They announced their intentions on Thursday.
Sam is a mother of three from Fort St. James and has served as a trustee on the Nechako Lakes school board, a councillor for the Nak’azdli band council and as senior staff to the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation during development of legislation to enshrine the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into law in B.C.
“I love this place and I’m so proud to come from such a resilient community. At the same time people are facing real challenges and many are worried about the future,” Sam said in a statement. “I want to join John Horgan’s team to develop solutions to the challenges people are facing and deliver support for our resource dependent communities.”
B.C. Liberal John Rustad is the riding's MLA.
Halbauer (X’staam Hana’ax) lives in Terrace with her husband and chairs the Coast Mountain College board of directors. She has helped secure $18.7 million for a new student residence at the Terrace campus.
She is also passionate about the Contact North program which connects students in remote and Indigenous communities to online learning, according to a statement released by the party.
She holds a Masters of Business Administration from University of Northern British Columbia, and is accredited by the Institute for Corporate Directors from the Rotman School of Business.
“My motivation is my two-year granddaughter. I want her to grow up in a community where everyone can get a good job, access to the healthcare and treatment they need, afford a good place to live, all within a sustainable economy,” Halbauer said.
B.C. Liberal Ellis Ross is the riding's MLA. He announced last week that he will be seeking re-election (editor's note: an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Ross would not be seeking re-election).
