The former head of the North District RCMP is looking to fill the hole Pat Bell will leave behind in the B.C. Liberals.

Retired RCMP superintendent Mike Morris announced this morning his candidacy for the Prince George-Mackenzie nomination.

"I want to thank Minister Bell for his significant accomplishments throughout our region and the province over the past 12 years," Morris said. "He leaves big shoes to fill, but I'm confident that I can do the job and represent the people of Prince George-Mackenzie in the same competent manner Minister Bell has for the past dozen years."

Morris said he knew about Bell's decision to withdraw from the May election due to health reasons a couple of weeks ago. He stepped down from his position as president of the Liberals' Prince George-Mackenzie riding association on Sunday to focus on seeking the nomination.

Morris is currently the president of the BC Trappers Association and also serves as an adjudicator and mediator with the Health Professions Review Board.

After 32 years with the RCMP - he retired from the force in 2005 - Morris said he can offer constituents something that perhaps other candidate's can't.

"I have first-hand experience in dealing with the enormous social societal problems that relate to the segments of our society that suffer from addictions, mental illness and the serious issues facing our Aboriginal communities," he said. "Police in general deal with the lower socio-economic segments of society on a routine basis. There's nobody in Canada that spends more time helping those in need than the RCMP and the other police forces across the country."

Prospective candidates have until 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 28 to declare their intentions to the riding association.