Shaw ready to run in new northeastern riding

The man vying for the Liberal Party of Canada nod in Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies says he'll likely run to the right of his teammates in red if he wins the nomination.

While the Liberals have yet to set a date for nominations in the riding, Matt Shaw said he is the only candidate to come forward so far in the riding that contains Dawson Creek and Fort St. John.

"We've got it pretty much settled within the party," he said of the nominations, adding Prince George museum director Tracy Calogheros plans to seek the nomination in Prince George-Cariboo.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the gruelling 78-day election period Sunday, the longest in Canadian history.

Shaw described himself as a fiscal conservative and interested in individual rights, saying his campaign would cast doubt on Conservative credibility in both areas.

"Are they good money mangers?" he said. "They're actually really poor money managers. Are they good at preserving individual rights? Well, I basically want government to leave us alone mostly."

"I'd like to offer people who are sick of the present government a place to go that's philosophically in line with what they value, without having to go socialist," he said, referring to New Democrats.

"I think I'm more in sync with the spirit of the Peace River area than the Conservatives purport to be. They're eroding some of these programs that Canadians like and augmenting these programs Canadians don't like, like surveilling Canadians and going to war against people who have never done anything to us."

Shaw has lived in Prince George for 26 years. He is a published author, having written a history of the Scottish people in Canada, and recently worked as a consultant for the McLeod Lake Indian Band near Mackenzie.

Of the four non-separatist parties represented in the House of Commons, the Liberals face perhaps the steepest climb in the riding.

The Liberals finished fourth behind the Green Party in 2011 and failed to win a single polling station in the riding. In that election, the Grits' Ben Levine carried five per cent of the vote, compared to Conservative MP Bob Zimmer's 62 per cent.

The Liberals haven't held the riding since Robert Borrie won it over the Progressive Conservatives in 1968.

So far, only Conservative incumbent Bob Zimmer and Libertarian Todd Keller have their parties' nominations.

The election is Oct. 19.