Candidates for Candidate - Okanagan Shuswap Green Party of Canada

The Green Party of Canada has approved 2 applications to be federal Green Party Candidate in the Okanagan Shuswap riding, and a third is in the approval process. Members will vote for their official Candidate at one of two meetings, to be held in Salmon Arm on July 13, and in Vernon on July 14. The Salmon Arm meeting will be held 7:00pm at the Podollan Inn, 1460 Trans Canada Highway NE, and the Vernon meeting 7:00pm at the Schubert Centre, 3505 30th Ave. The resulting Candidate will be announced at the end of the second meeting, approximately 9:00pm Wednesday July 14, after a count of the total ballot from the two meetings.

The 2 applicants so far contesting the position:

Paul Noble
25 years old, Paul has recently completed a Political Science degree at the University of Victoria, and has been accepted into UVic’s Masters program. But he has decided to put further schooling on hold in order to work instead with the Green Party. He was born on Saltspring Island and at the age of 5 moved to a farm near Salmon Arm, where he grew up. He graduated from Salmon Arm Senior Secondary in 2003 and enrolled at UVic in 2004. In order to put himself though school he worked in pipeline construction in the oil and gas industry (he is a member of United Associates Local 170), work that has taken him across western Canada, including Fort McMurray. Paul is confident that we can include young Canadians in the political process with new types of engagement and organizing, as well as with ideas and perspectives that are relevant to their daily lives.

Erik Bjorgan
32 years old, Erik received his Master of Divinity degree in 2007, and was ordained at Deo Lutheran Church in Salmon Arm, where he continues to serve as pastor. He spent his childhood in various rural and urban communities in Saskatoon and Alberta, until moving to Coquitlam where he completed high school. He then went on to study Psychology in Camrose, Alberta. After receiving his B.A., he served as a live-in assistant in a home for developmentally disabled adults, then in 2000 moved to Tokyo, where he taught English for 2½ years. In 2002 he began seminary studies in Saskatoon; also working at a home for developmentally delayed youth. He was married in 2005, to Marla, who works as a public health nurse at the Salmon Arm Health Unit. Erik is respected for his thoughts on the central role of community in connection to both environmental and economic well-being.

For more info contact Greig Crockett 250-260-5877 or clhull@telus.net, or Russ Collins 250-309-5973 or info@okshuswapgreens.ca.