Tell us about yourself:

I have always had a curious mind and am interested in a variety of things. I grew up on a farm and have always enjoyed gardening which led to looking into permaculture which is edible landscaping but also a philosophy of life. I am interested in the environment and how biodiversity works and ecosystems. 

I notice how things we are doing in the world seem to be causing alot of harm 

Having been involved with politics in the past,I have  tried to get involved with parties but didnt like it as they didnt seem to have a clear direction or vision about what life would be like if they had absolute rule. I don't understand where they are going as it seems like they all just represent different forms of welfair capatalism and none is offering anything that is substantially different than the status quo with minor tax changes. 

I believe we must be more radical with approaches to climate and I dont feel as though anything that is being proposed is enough. We are looking at the climate emergency from our first world bubble of delusion and we are not comprehending.

How are you enjoying the campaign process so far? How has the support been?

I don't really do alot of door knocking. I am hoping that people just pay attention and if they like what they hear they will talk. Although I am not a fan of signs I did decide to put out some campaign signs this year as I realized that it at least lets people know there's somebody other than major parties running, so maybe they will take the time and pay attention. 

Before running, I have had a few people call and ask me to run. There are people who support me, there are people who really like what I am doing and are glad that I am doing it. 

Is it an added challenge being an independent party taking on other established parties?

It's a challenge that alot of people have made up their minds before the election is called, so do they listen? I find it really hard with election's, there's not alot of conversation and public dialoge and really trying to understand what certain policies would mean for people.

One of the hardest things is how to get people to engage. Alot of people just assume if they pay attention to the leaders of the party, that's paying attention. So to get people to pay attention on the local side would be a challenge.

 

It's a short election campaign. Is five weeks enough time to get your name out there?

It's quite unfortunate when we are picking the future of the country and elections seemed rushed and even now they called the shortest election possible and then they have early voting on top of that. IT almost feels like a voter suppression in a way to just shorten an already short election. They should really go as long as they need to go for people to understand what they are voting for. 

If people don't know who you are before you run in the election then should you be running in the election? I've run in multiple elections this whole time, I'm involved in the community, again you just have to hope that what I am saying resonates. If it doesnt that is how democracy works, they don't like what your saying, they don't vote for you. Not sure if more time would make a difference anyways. 

It's insulting to democracy to try to rush a decision like this, early voting shouldnt be allowed, people can vote before alot of the dialoge has been going on.