Personal trainer Camille Currie will be the B.C. Green Party’s candidate for the Langford-Juan de Fuca riding, which has been left vacant by the retirement of former premier John Horgan.
An activist, Currie is the founder and president of B.C. Health Care Matters, a grassroots patient advocacy group with the goal of getting everyone in B.C. timely access to a family doctor.
“We still have over one million residents in B.C. without a family doctor and many without timely access to their family doctor. This is simply not acceptable,” says a statement from the group. “It is for this reason that Camille has decided to run for MLA, to bring the voices of the people straight to the legislature floor.”
B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau said that Currie has been at the forefront of B.C.’s primary care crisis.
“Her work has united communities across the province, calling for action and accountability in our public health care system,” Furstenau said in a statement. “We are thrilled to add her to our team, and I am looking forward to working with her as a member of the B.C. Green caucus soon.”
Currie owns Actualize Personal Training and lives in Langford. She earned a degree in political science and economics at the University of Alberta, according to the Green Party.
The Doctors of B.C. gave her an award this year for excellence in health promotion by an individual.
A date for the byelection to fill the vacant riding seat has not been set.
Horgan, who has twice battled cancer, said in February he was speeding up his retirement plans after announcing last June that health reasons were forcing him to end a 30-year political career.
That included five years as premier, eight years as New Democratic Party leader, five terms as MLA and a dozen years as a political staff employee.
He officially stepped down on March 31.
— With a file from The Canadian Press
