Charlesworth edges out Faust to claim Green Party nomination for Nelson/Creston
By Nelson Daily Staff
Former Nelson City Councilor Kim Charlesworth edged out Regional District of Central Kootenay Director Ramona Faust to claim the Nelson/Creston nonmination for the B.C. Green Party in the upcoming Provincial Election.
The announcement was made the the BC Green Party in a media release Tuesday.
The next general election in British Columbia will take place on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.
Charlesworth earned the nomination during an online vote, which ran from October 4-9. Sjeng Derkx represented the Green Party in Nelson/Creston during the last election.
“I’m excited to be the candidate for the Green Party for Nelson-Creston,” Charlesworth said in a media release.
“I believe people everywhere want to see a different approach to working on the issues of our times: climate change, food security, building relations with First Nations, the shifting economy and unstable jobs.”
Charlesworth said her approach in the upcoming election, through the Green Party, is to build partnerships and collaborate.
“The only way we can change the path we are on is to do it together,” the native of Manitoba said.
“We all have a voice. I’d like to hear from the constituents in the Kootenays so I can represent their voices.”
Charlesworth moved to Nelson in 2003 and has been active in the community forward ever since.
Born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the director of the West Kootenay EcoSociety, attended Dalhousie Law School in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she met and married Greg Brewer.
Charlesworth practiced law briefly before taking time to raise a family of two children, who both live in Toronto.
Charlesworth joined the Federal Government to work for the Correctional Service of Canada in Abbotsford and later Human Resources Development Canada in Victoria before moving to Nelson after accepting a management position with Service Canada.
Charlesworth said that experience within Federal Government departments has provided her with an insider’s experience of the challenges of meeting a broad range of citizens needs cost effectively.
Charlesworth service on term on Nelson City Council from 2008-2011 as lead on the development of the City’s Path to 2040 Sustainability Strategy and the Community Energy and Emissions Action Plan (CEEAP).
She said this involved extensive community consultations to create the framework that would shape City Policy and Procedure into our collective future.
The Path to 2040 has now been integrated into decision making processes at both Staff and Council levels.
Recently Charlesworth has focussed on Food Security, joining the Nelson Food Cupboard in 2013 where she helped the organization transition beyond providing emergency food bank services, including the development of a 4,000-square-foot garden.
Charlesworth is Board Chair of the Kootenay and Boundary Food Producers Co-op (KBFPC) formed in 2015 in response to the challenges our local farmers and food producers face.
Their vision is to re-create a sustainable, local food economy.
Charlesworth brought the founding team of this Co-op together three years ago and has lead the group through its development and implementation.
Charlesworth is also a board member with the Glacier Gymnastics, the Centre for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Leadership (CIEL)and Advisory Council for Habondia Society.
B.C. was the first province in Canada to establish fixed election dates. Provincial general elections are scheduled for the second Tuesday in May every four years.
Currently Michelle Mungall of the NDP is currently the sitting MLA for Nelson/Creston.
