Long-time Prince George city councillor Garth Frizzell announced he will be running for the Liberal Party in the Cariboo-Prince George election.
Frizzell announced his candidacy on Friday during a press conference at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park.
Frizzell said he believes the top issue in this election is the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Liberals are the best party to lead Canada through it.
“We’ve got to deal with pandemic recovery. The economy is going to be so critical for us,” Frizzell said. “I’ve been talking to all the parties over this past year. I was talking to (Conservative Party leader Erin) O’Toole, to (NDP leader Jagmeet) Singh… and the prime minister. They (the Liberals) listened and got it done.”
Frizzell said he understands it will be a challenge winning over voters in the traditionally Conservative riding, but it’s time Cariboo-Prince George has a seat at the table, instead of an opposition MP in the backbenches.
“I know it is an uphill battle. They (the Conservatives) have a well-funded machine,” he said. “(But) we’ve been in opposition for years. And, by all accounts, it looks like the Conservatives will be opposition again.”
Frizzell said while he has strong connections and deep roots in Prince George, he’ll have to work to make those connections in the rest of the riding.
Frizzell has served on Prince George city council since 2008 and currently teaches technology, business and economics courses at the College of New Caledonia. He previously founded and co-owned a local software company in the city, and is a former president of the Prince George Chamber of Commerce.
As a city councillor, he’s served as the chairperson of the city’s Standing Committee on Finance and Audit since 2014. He has also spent 11 years on the board of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and in 2020 became the first Prince George councillor to serve as president of the federal advocacy group.
Frizzell grew up in Sechelt, B.C., and moved to Prince George in 1996 while working on obtaining his masters degree in international studies from UNBC. He and his wife Sue have three children.
Frizzell is running against incumbent Conservative MP Todd Doherty and NDP candidate Audrey McKinnon. The Green Party had not announced its candidate for the riding as of Friday afternoon.
Voters will head to the polls on Sept. 20.
“The issues that are talked about (nationally) are the issues in Cariboo-Prince George,” he said. “We can’t be some out of the way riding, or one that is just (ignored because it is) rural.”
