Three people are seeking nomination for NDP candidate in the Prince George Cariboo North riding — Laura Zimmerman of Williams Lake and Trent Derrick and Debora Munoz, both of Prince George.
On Monday evening Derrick and Zimmerman gave short speeches to members of the Cariboo-Chilcotin NDP constituency in Williams Lake.
Local resident Joan Magee read a statement provided by Munoz, who said she will be in Williams Lake for three days to meet people in person, beginning on June 22.
Growing up Derrick said he spent time in the Cariboo and Prince George.
“My parents were very involved with founding one of the churches here in Williams Lake and working with First Nations in the area.”
Two years ago he and his wife moved to Prince George from Port Alberni where he had been working for Service Canada, an experience that gave him a good understanding of the inner workings of federal government, he said.
Derrick has been seeking the nomination since December and building key support in Prince George.
“We have built a plan,” he said of his support group.
“We do have a true shot to win this riding and if I win the nomination I will spend the next three months building relationships.”
He’s also been connecting with unions in Prince George and youth at UNBC and College of New Caledonia, he added.
Munoz is originally from northern New Brunswick where she grew up on an organic farm, the second eldest of 11 children.
Her father was a miner, which eventually led the family to Ontario.
“I know first hand how important jobs in the resource sector are to people living and working in the Cariboo and Prince George riding,” Magee read from Munoz’s notes.
Munoz has served on Prince George city council, the Fort George Fraser Regional District, Resources North Association, and has worked for 36 years in public health services.
She is a clinical neuropsychology technologist who works closely with neurosurgeons, Magee said.
She has been a union representative in Northern and Interior Health, is co-chair of the community partners addressing homelessness and for eight years been a director on the Prince George Performing Arts Centre.
Zimmerman moved to Williams Lake three years ago from Saskatchewan with her family.
Since then she has become involved with restorative justice in both sentencing and healing circles, is a director for the Cariboo Arts Festival, a 4H leader and a mentor for students at a Christian School, she said.
“When I was 11 years old I sat under a banquet table and listened to Tommy Douglas speak,” she recalled. “I became passionate about the socialist movement and carried that banner from then on.”
Zimmerman described the other political parties as two corporate-driven opponents that are threatening democracy.
“That’s a trigger to me that it’s time for the NDP and democrat movement to stand up and say enough,” she said.
As she’s gone about knocking on doors the last two weeks, Zimmerman has heard concerns about Canada Post, the RCMP, cuts to the CBC, negative GDP, education, health care, mental health and needs of Aboriginal communities.
“I have the passion and commitment to rejuvenate every constituent in this region,” Zimmerman said.