As I mentioned recently on this blog, there is currently a nomination race happening to determine the NDP candidate in the provincial riding of Regina – Coronation Park, a riding which happens to be my home constituency.
There are four announced candidates:
Jaime Garcia – a labour activist who grew up in Coronation Park, Jaime currently works in digital media and new technology at SGI
Tamara Harder
– a community leader and activist who is the current President of the
Saskatchewan New Democractic Women, Tamara currently works as the
Executive Director for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award in Saskatchewan.
Fred Kress – a federal candidate in Lumsden-Lake Centre in 2008, Fred is the current constituency assistant to outgoing MLA, Kim Trew
Tory McGregor
– as I mentioned in my earlier blog post, Tory is the most surprising
candidate in the race having most recently served as Deputy Leader of
the Saskatchewan Green Party (and of this writing, is still listed on
their site. Double-agent alert! 
).
As the last candidate to join the race and as a relative unknown (at
least to me) with a smaller web presence than the other three and the
only one not to make personal contact as of yet, I have to admit that I
don't know as much about Tory as the other three.
I do know that
every one of these candidates has their advantages and disadvantages
and would bring different things to a riding which is considered as a
fairly safe NDP seat. You can't take anything for granted but that
means that in some ways, gaining the nomination may be the harder (no
pun intended, Tamara!) battle with the eventual winner having a very
good chance of becoming an MLA in the 2011 election.
And knowing that, I am very happy to announce that I am endorsing and will be supporting Jaime Garcia in this race!
There are a number of things that tipped the scales in favour of Jaime:
– I like that he
has a young family (including a daughter who is very close in age to
Pace) which I believe gives him the greatest understanding of the
concerns and issues facing my own young family
– I like that he works in new media (and knows how to leverage it – he's currently got 310 Facebook fans plus a great web site, Tamara has 182 and a great web site as well, Fred Kress has 71 and no web site as far as I can tell. Tory McGregor doesn't appear to have a Fan page on Facebook or a personal web site.)
– as was the case with my decision to support Ryan Meili in last year's
Leadership race, I like that, of the three candidates most directly
connected to the NDP in the Coronation Park race, Jaime's the biggest
outsider. To my mind, that means he's the most likely to bring fresh and new ideas to the constituency, to the party and to politics in general.
– I know this has nothing to do with politics but I know Jaime's a
tri-athlete and I think that speaks to his heart, dedication and
perseverance that you want in your elected representative.
– I
happen to be a colleague of Jaime's mother who works in RPL's Business
Office and I know it's good politics to not cross the family member of
anyone who hands you a cheque every time you put in an expense claim! 
I'm just kidding about that but in all honesty, I've had one extremely
memorable, non-cheque related interaction with Jaime's mom where she
made a presentation that had a very strong impact on me with its
thoughtfulness and depth. The fact that family is such a strong theme in Jaime's campaign
makes me feel fairly certain that the apple probably didn't fall far
from the tree and I'm sure that Jaime shares many of the same values
and insights as his mother.
– On that note, I think Jaime's personal story
gives him a unique perspective on our province and what it can offer to
a newcomer that none of the other candidates can match.
– And finally, I like that Jaime was born and raised in Coronation Park and still has deep roots in the community.
Best of luck, Jaime!
) 
