The Green Party will now show up on the ballot for voters in the South Okanagan-West Kootenay riding on Oct. 19.
The party has named Samantha Troy from Rossland as their candidate in the 2015 federal election.
Troy, a newcomer to the political field, was inspired to run after hearing the Green Party had yet to field a candidate.
“I was reading the local paper here, The Rossland News, and there was an article about how the Green Party had not found a candidate in this riding,” Troy said. “That struck me as wrong somehow.
“The Green Party is running candidates everywhere and they’ve got a really solid platform that I believe in, so I just though maybe I’ll try to do this.”
A few weeks after getting in touch with the party, Troy was contacted and told she would be the candidate. She is the winter outdoor operations manager and ski dispatcher at Red Mountain Resort in Rossland and has a 20-year history in the forestry industry with a diverse background from tree planting to surveying and management positions.
It was her history in the forestry industry that she said connected her to the Green Party platform.
“Because of all my work outdoors in the resort industry and the resource industry I notice how we are being affected by climate change and the Green Party’s platform is very appealing because it provides, I think, a solid framework for making changes,” Troy said.
“I’ve got an 11-year-old son and I really want to participate in some positive changes to make our society and our world just a little bit better.”
Troy is from B.C. and has lived in Rossland since the mid 1990s and has lived in Vancouver as well as Kamloops.
“I’m definitely an all around B.C. person and I’m happy to call this neck of the woods home,” Troy said.
Troy will be joining Conservative candidate Marshall Neufeld, NDP candidate Richard Cannings and Liberal candidate Connie Denesiuk at the all-candidates forum put on by the Penticton Western News on Sept. 26 at 1 p.m. at the Seniors Drop-In Centre.
Troy said she hasn’t had any prior political affiliations and is ready to dive in to her first foray into politics.
“As a rookie I feel that I’ve got a lot to learn. It’s very exciting. I’m very excited and honoured to participate in the process,” Troy said.