Green Party candidate Kim Reimer is quickly establishing herself on Chilliwack's political scene. At her office opening last Friday, Reimer scored an endorsement from First Nation's elder and wild salmon advocate Eddie Gardner.
"Kim Reimer and the Green Party of B.C. are in harmony. They have a strong support in having the open-net salmon feedlots removed from their coastal waters. No other party has really come out and stated anything like that," said Gardner.
Gardner sees the endangerment of B.C.'s wild salmon as a key provincial issue.
"If we lose it, it's forever. And it will have a huge impact not only on the B.C. economy that the wild salmon supports and sustains, but it will also have a serious impact on the biodiversity of British Columbia. These are risks too high," said Gardner.
Reimer's attendance at local rallies held by the Salmon Feedlot Boycott has impressed Gardner.
"She has educated herself on the Cohen Commission and knows the issues really well," he said.
The maturing of the Green Party also contributed to Gardner putting his weight behind Reimer.
"The Green Party has evolved to a stage right now where they are looking not only at issues such as this, but they're looking at green economics. They're looking at what needs to be done to ward off global warming," said Gardner.
Reimer's donated office at Five Corners proved too small for the gathered audience on Friday, and within days the campaign team found another. The new, much larger office is at 46220A Yale Road.
"We were full. It was encouraging but we realized that our momentum is going to grow and we need room to accommodate more people and do more work," said Reimer in a release.
Campaign team member David Burnie said that needing more space is a good problem to have.
"The fact that we have this need, and the ability to accommodate it so early in the campaign, is just another sign of how Green is growing in Chilliwack, and how well established Kim's campaign already is," said Burnie in the release.
A professional photographer, Reimer is a newcomer to the political scene, first making her name known a few months ago as a passionate opponent to the chlorination of Chilliwack's drinking water.
In her Chilliwack riding, the Greens won eight per cent of the popular vote in 2009, in line with provincial results.
There is no Green Party candidate running in the Chilliwack-Hope riding this election.
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