THE BC Liberals, for the second time, have reached into the ranks of northwest aboriginal governance for a candidate for next May's provincial election.
Wanda Good, the deputy chief councillor for Gitanyow, located north of Gitwangak on Hwy37 North, has been selected as the party's candidate for the Stikine riding.
In a release Good said she was honoured to be a BC Liberal candidate.
“Working in collaboration with the province, municipalities, and First Nations, I have been able to bring positive change to northwest BC. Now, I’m ready to step up and be a strong voice in Victoria for the Stikine riding, which has been underrepresented in government for too long,” she said in the statement.
Good's career includes working in the energy industry in Calgary before returning to Gitanyow.
In recent years she's been a strong advocate for improved transportation along Hwy16 and has figured prominently in provincial planning for public transit and other measures for more reliable and safe travel.
Good's also been very active in the cause of missing and murdered women along Hwy16 – a cousin, Lana Derrick, a 19-year-old college student, was last seen in Thornhill in the fall of 1995.
Doug Donaldson has represented the Stikine riding for the NDP through the 2009 and 2013 provincial elections.
The Stikine riding takes in the Hazeltons, the Bulkley Valley and Stewart and runs north to the Yukon border.
In September, Premier Christy Clark announced that Ellis Ross, the then-Haisla Nation chief councillor, would represent the BC Liberals in the Skeena riding in next May's provincial election. Ross stepped down from his chief councillor post shortly after.
He'll go up against a new NDP candidate following Robin Austin's announcement earlier this year that he won't run again.
The three northwest ridings of Stikine, Skeena and North Coast have been the only bright spot for the NDP in the north and in the interior over the past several elections.