CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - Karen Lavers has become the latest candidate to secure a nomination from the Liberal Party of P.E.I.
At a party nomination meeting attended by over 130 people Sept. 18, the former City of Charlottetown employee touted her professional resume, as well as her voluntary commitments.
Lavers recently retired after having worked for the City of Charlottetown for 43 years. She has sat on the board of Island Waste Management Corporation, has volunteered with the Charlottetown Islanders hockey team and has been an alternate board member of the Public Schools Branch.
"I'm retiring from one job, but I can't sit still for very long, so I want the job of being your Liberal candidate for District 9," Lavers said in her speech.
Lavers spoke in glowing terms of the accomplishments of Wade MacLauchlan’s Liberal government when it came to both middle class and low-income Islanders.
"We can talk about the strongest economy P.E.I. has ever had, the highest population P.E.I. has ever had, the highest number of doctors P.E.I. has ever had," Lavers said.
Lavers also listed several policies that she said would “benefit all Islanders,” including expanded disability support programs, improvements to social assistance benefits and the province’s housing action plan.
MacLauchlan also made remarks at the meeting, touting the record of his government. The premier also briefly addressed the recent announcement by PC Leader James Aylward, who announced Monday that he would be stepping down.
"Now that there's been a change in the leadership of the Conservative party, it's all the more important for us, as Liberals, to be clear about how we can improve people's lives,” MacLauchlan said.
Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee, who worked with Lavers for 15 years, said he was not surprised she was making the move into provincial politics.
"It seems to be something that would fit right in with her personality," Lee said. "She's all about people."
Lavers faced no challengers for the Liberal nomination.
She will face off against PC Party candidate Sarah Stewart-Clark, an associate professor of agriculture at Dalhousie University, who has been an outspoken advocate on issues of poverty, affordability and access to services for low-income women.
Teacher and active transportation advocate Josh Underhay is running in the district for the Green Party, while Gordon Gay, a former president of CUPE Local 1775, is the NDP candidate.
