Gary Young is running as an independent candidate in the provincial election coming up May 14.
Young was born and raised in B.C., and considers himself a B.C.er living in Canada.
He was raised in Powell River with three brothers where his father worked for 29 years in a pulp mill.
Young graduated on the university entrance program with majors in English, math, trigonometry, calculus, and social psychology.
He has one grown son, Sheldon, a Vancouver Fire Department investigator and one granddaughter.
Young and wife, Maureen, now call the South Cariboo home and have a compliment of great gardens, small orchard, and numerous critters.
They moved to Lac La Hache for affordability, the great outdoors, and away from the city congestion and pollution.
He and Maureen have large gardens, green house and too much lawn.
Maureen has chickens for eggs which they share with neighbours and they both cherish their two dogs and new cat. They are both successful at luring local trout.
Young spent most of his work life in warehouse management and inventory control.
For the last few years before retiring, he was a fishing guide in the Queen Charlotte Islands.
What Young loved the most about the fishing were the incredible people he met from all over the world.
OK the fishing was great too, he says.
Young has always been a lover of the outdoors and all that B.C. has to offer.
While keeping an eye out for environmental concerns, Young’s background also includes working as a HE operator and mill operator in resource extraction industries.
This provides Young with a good balance in his views of the benefits and sacrifices we often have to make.
While following with great interest in the governing and party system in B.C., Young had never been an ongoing member of any political party, nor had Maureen except for a brief period when Gary accepted the challenge of being president of the fledgling B.C. First party.
He found through this involvement that the need for a more balanced and independent view was needed in B.C. politics.
Writing a weekly column in a community newspaper, radio hosting, and live/taped local television are in Young’s background.
An accomplished public speaker, Young has been involved with the Chamber of Commerce, Tourist Promotion, United Way, Community projects, All Candidate Forums, mayoralty election, recreation commission, charities, ESL tutor, BCSPCA, minor sports, and other endeavours.
Young was a campaign manager for a successful mayoralty bid, won despite five other candidates, three were former mayors.
He was on the local recreation commission and was an organizing supporter for two council members.
He got the hockey people from minor and adult, together with the figure-skating club to for an Ice Users Association to deal effectively with the heavy demands on the single arena.
Now with the problems in government Young is stepping forward to try to make life better and promote real democracy.
- Biography submitted