James Buckley feels it’s the right time to run for politics.
Buckley, 43, has been declared the BC Libertarian candidate for the Cariboo-Chilcotin in the Oct. 24 election. It’s the first time his party has run a candidate in the riding and the first time Buckley has thrown his hat in the ring for a seat.
Although he has always been interested in politics, the 100 Mile resident says it wasn’t until four years ago that he discovered the Libertarian party, which had similar views to his own.
“Now just seems to be the right time. The Liberal government and the NDP have basically killed our natural resources,” he said noting the area is losing its mines and mills. “These are the things they should be looking after. I would love to see our natural resources come back.”
Born in Hanover, Germany, Buckley spent five years in Scotland with his family before they moved to B.C.’s Lower Mainland. He has been in 100 Mile House for the past 23 years and works the graveyard stocking shift at Save-On-Foods.
He said the Libertarian Party is a “people-oriented party. It’s all about freedom, lower taxes and having the right to decide what you want, as long as it’s not harmful to anyone else.”
Buckley, who plans to start door-knocking shortly, is up against BC Liberal candidate Lorne Doerkson,Scott Andrews for the BC NDP, David Laing, for BC Green Party, and independent candidate Katya Potekhina.