A former NDP MLA will be running for the BC Conservatives in Nanaimo during the fall provincial election.
Gwen O’Mahony announced her candidacy for Nanaimo-Lantzville yesterday. In a video posted to social media, she says the NDP has moved so far to the left, she can’t support it anymore.
“My values are the same, I’m still the same Gwen. I haven’t changed, the NDP has changed,” she says.
O’Mahony says the ongoing opioid crisis is one issue that spurred her to re-enter politics.
“I have family who have wrestled with addiction, like many British Columbians,” she says. “Decriminalization of possession of hard drugs, it’s devastating. We see people shooting up in public, in playgrounds. Then on top of that, there’s the announcement of safe supply, which is not safe at all.”
O’Mahony represented Chilliwack as MLA under former Premier John Horgan until 2013. She has lived on the island for the past six years.
