A familiar face from the Coast’s social service sector has been selected as the B.C. Green Party candidate in the Powell River-Sunshine Coast riding for the Oct. 19 provincial election. Dr. Chris Hergesheimer, who resides in Halfmoon Bay, posted to Facebook on Aug. 8 about accepting that appointment.
“I'm going on an adventure! I am excited to speak loudly and help create policy that enables a stable and sustainable future for all people in my region—a future guided by equity, justice, inclusion and community care” he wrote. He also posted a video statement in which he spoke to the issue of voter disengagement, as he asked the public to “give him 70 days” (the approximate time to voting day) in support of his efforts to "make you believe things can be different”.
“For this riding, for our community and our challenges and opportunities, let me tell you that it (voting) does matter” he stated. “I know the Coast, I’ve watched it change over nearly two decades, great things, bad things… I have a clear vision for the next 20 years…Status quo is the design choice and we can choose differently. We can and have to believe in better”.
Hergesheimer is currently the Lead Food Programmer at Sunshine Coast Community Services Society and has worked with the Sunshine Coast Resource Centre (SCRC), most recently serving as the lead of it’s Poverty Reduction Project. He is also a past board member of the Sunshine Coast Regional Economic Development Organization.
According to the SCRC website, he holds a BA in cultural anthropology, an MA in Sociology from Simon Fraser University and a PhD in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems from the University of British Columbia. He is also a musician, whose local performances have been covered in Coast Reporter’s Arts Beat. In May, he undertook a 50 km. walk from Egmont to Halfmoon Bay to raise awareness about the need for better transit connectivity and service on the Coast.
The B. C. Green party website shows more than 20 candidates selected as of Aug. 10, from throughout the province including Jeremy Valeriote, a former Town of Gibsons councillor, who is seeking the nod from the electorate in the West Vancouver-Sea to Sky riding.
