A fourth-generation cattle rancher has been named the Cariboo-Prince George Green candidate for the federal election.
Heidi Redl is from the Cariboo Chilcotin and has lived in the Williams Lake area for most of her life, with short exceptions took her to Victoria, Terrace and Germany for work and education.
Redl said she has always followed "green" practices in her private life and was thrilled to finally be able to vote Green as the Party came onto the ballot in recent federal and provincial elections.
Although she graduated with a double-major in Russian and German languages from the University of Victoria in 1984, she returned to the Cariboo to marry and raise a family on a cattle ranch eight miles down the road from where she grew up.
Redl's family has undertaken a direct-marketing approach to sell their homegrown, environmentally-consciously raised beef to consumers at Farmers' Markets throughout the Lower Mainland of B.C.
"This approach necessitates much communication and travel throughout the province and leads to personal contacts with all segments of B.C. society," she states in her bio.
Redl is also an ex-columnist for Canadian Cowboy Country magazine, a writer with articles in Macleans and Canadian Geographic, and a CBC radio segment host.
She said her leadership style would draw on her experience in politics as the chair of the Agriculture Committee and Board Member for the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE).
Redl's husband has been a woodlot manager for the past 20 years and through being involved in his work she has developed an understanding of the provincial forestry situation and the impact felt by issues such as the pine beetle epidemic on the industry in Cariboo-Chilcotin.
Redl will be campaigning in Prince George and Quesnel on Saturday and Sunday.
MP Dick Harris is the only other candidate in the riding so far. He has reportedly said he will also be campaigning in the riding on Saturday.Check back with The Citizen for details.
