Halfway through the federal election campaign, we checked in with the candidates looking for your vote in the riding of Port Moody-Coquitlam.
They told The Tri-City News some of their plans, as well as their views on what are emerging as some of the defining issues of this election, from affordability and climate change to taxes and immigration.
Liberal: Ron McKinnon
The Liberal incumbent, McKinnon has spent the last four years on federal committees looking at such issues as justice, human rights and health. He had a hand in legislation laws around medically assisted dying and the legalization of cannabis, and in 2017 introduced his own private members bill that gives immunity to people with drugs when they call 911 in response to a drug overdose. Before McKinnon became an MP in 2015, he had worked as a business owner, computer systems analyst and, in the 1970s, as a meteorological technician for Environment Canada.
Website: ronmckinnon.liberal.ca
Conservative: Nicholas Insley
Insley studied economics and English literature at the University of British Columbia and received an MBA from the University of Oxford. In between degrees, he worked in strategic communications for the Stephen Harper federal government. He currently leads the public affairs team at Seaspan Shipyards in North Vancouver and lives in Coquitlam with his wife and child.
Website: coquitlampococpc.ca
NDP: Christina Gower
The NDP challenger works as a psychiatric liaison nurse at Royal Columbian Hospital and has spent years as a community advocate. Her political platform includes health care — specifically, mental health and the opioid crisis — housing affordability, environmental stewardship, reconciliation, social inclusion and income inequality.
Website: christinagower.ndp.ca
Green Party: Brad Nickason
An illustrator, graphic designer and publisher of children’s activity books, this Green challenger is taking his second run at a federal election campaign after placing fourth out of five candidates in 2015. He is the chair of the city of Coquitlam’s Visual Arts Committee and sits on several other boards, including Coquitlam’s Culture Services Advisory Committee, the Evergreen Cultural Centre and the Port Coquitlam Arts Council. Originally from Barhead, Alta., Nickason has lived in Port Coquitlam for the last 30 years.
Website: www.greenparty.ca/en/riding/2013-59008
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