As a country, Canada is unrecognizable from what it used to be, and people are ready to change that, according to Cariboo-Prince George Liberal candidate Tracy Calogheros.
"It's been a long time since we've had a room with this many people in here that are really interested in looking at the Canada that was always our Canada - the Canada that people in the world look to as the place they want to move, the place they wanted to be because we believed in peace and we believed in environment and we believed in people and in each other," Calogheros said Saturday morning, addressing the crowd of supporters gathered to celebrate the opening of the campaign office for herself and Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies candidate Matt Shaw.
The airy office, located at 1299 Third Ave., is the Prince George headquarters for the Liberal campaign and the candidates said they wanted ideas and input from all walks of life.
"It doesn't much matter to me whether you're wearing a Liberal button or some other button," Calogheros said. "What I want is your brains, I want your brains to come to the table, and all of us are here because we love this area."
Standing up as Liberal is an easy sell, said Shaw.
"I was putting out signs last couple of days and there were a number of people who actually stopped their car, ran out and shook my hand and said 'thank you for doing this. We want a change and we're so glad that somebody's stepping up,'" he said.
With Prince George split between the two ridings, Shaw said he couldn't think of a better running mate than Calogheros, adding that they're both sincere in what they're trying to accomplish - representing the region as a whole.
"We're here because we love this area and we love what it can give us as a lifestyle. And the only way to protect that, really, is to make sure that we have people in Ottawa that are listening to us," Calogheros said.
"We haven't had a voice in Ottawa, we've had Ottawa's voice here. And really, what we have to try and do is flip that on its head."
Assisting with Saturday's festivities was Mary Baehr, whom Calogheros said was the first Liberal party member she met when she moved to the city in the early 1990s.
For her part, Baehr, 91, has lived in the city for nearly 70 years. A lifelong Liberal, Baehr noted Canada's seventh Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier as her hero and gateway into the party.
Compared to previous years, Baehr said Calogheros and Shaw are solid candidates.
"I'm so pleased with them," she said.
"They used to (parachute) in candidates and you didn't know who they were and that's no good. These are good candidates."
