GPM LEADER JAMES BEDDOME TO RUN IN ELMWOOD BY- ELECTION

The leader of the Green Party of Manitoba (GPM), James Beddome, will be running in the Elmwood by-election.

The GPM leader will be holding Premier Gary Doer’s New Democrats to account for the decline in living standards that many Elmwood residents and other Manitobans have experienced in the last 10 years.

“We think this election is about the quality of life in Manitoba, and we can do better. Today's NDP is really yesterday's news: tired ideas and tired politicos that have lost touch with the needs and interests of working Manitobans,” said Beddome.

Over the course of the campaign, the GPM will release platform details in press briefings and on its newly re-vamped website. “The GPM will be presenting a plan in this election that addresses the needs of the long-ignored voters of Elmwood,” asserted Beddome.

Beddome said in his candidacy announcement, “The people of Elmwood have told us at their doorsteps that they are concerned about their quality of life. They have told me that they want an assured basic income and real solutions for affordable child-care and reduction of child poverty. People in Elmwood have told me that delivery of health care should be provided directly into the homes of the elderly and working families, and they want their fair share of their tax dollars invested in addressing these and other economic, social and ecological issues.”

“It's time that the NDP realizes that there is an inescapable link between our environment and the economy. People are smart. The NDP uses the trick of throwing petty cash sporadically at problems - in order to give the impression that this government is working and taking action. This does not fool anyone. It’s a question of political will and people tell us they want real action, real money, spent on solving these problems.”

Beddome was elected party leader at the Annual General Meeting of the GPM on November 15, 2008. He was a candidate in the riding of Minnedosa in the last Provincial General Election in 2007, where he attracted attention for bicycling door to door during his campaign in the large rural riding. He placed third in that contest, ahead of the Liberal candidate.

No stranger to hard work, Beddome has both business and agricultural experience. Raised on a mixed livestock farm near Rapid City, he has worked as a farm hand, supervised the operations of an alfalfa processing plant, worked as an administrator for Nesbitt Burns, and now runs an independent eco-friendly business. He is also currently studying Law at the University of Manitoba.

Beddome’s family is firmly rooted in Manitoba. His ancestors were among the original settlers of the province. Beddome currently resides in Wolseley.