STEVE FORSETH -- Race To Become MLA, for the Cariboo North Riding, Grows to Four

This afternoon (March 21st), the race to become the 2017-21 MLA for Cariboo - North grew to four, with the introduction of Richard Jacques from the BC Green Party.  

Mr. Jacques, who hails from Prince George, also ran in the October 2015 Federal Election for the Green Party of Canada in the riding of Cariboo - Prince George; he was not successful in that election.

Richard Jacques, Cariboo - North
candidate for the BC Green Party

His bio from the BC Green Party website is as follows:

Richard is married and has 6 children, the two youngest are still at home, the rest are pursuing post-secondary educational studies. Richard is currently completing his British Columbia Teacher Certification through Faculty of Education at UBC.

After a tenure with the Manitoba Dept. of Corrections, Richard attended the RCMP Training Academy in Regina, Saskatchewan; he was later posted throughout the Province of British Columbia where he would spend many productive years in First Nations Community Policing. 

For his work on the Organizing Committees for the 1997 APEC Conference and the 2001 Summit of the Americas, Richard was awarded two Prime Minister's Commendation for Service. In 2002, Richard was a founding member of the Sacred Wolf Native Friendship Centre in Port Hardy, BC. The Centre, which still operates today provides child protection, healing, and mental wellness services for the surrounding Indigenous communities.

During his lengthy career in First Nations policing, Richard and his family relocated numerous time across Canada; he spent much of his free time volunteering as a firefighter in both Fort St. James and Takla Landing before finally retiring in 2008 to pursue teaching full time.

In the fall of 2012, Richard was offered a teaching position in a remote First Nations community of St. Theresa's Point in northern Manitoba; he accepted the position, taught the Police Foundations Course; many of his graduates went on to join the Island Lake Tribal Police Force. He returned to UBC with his family in the fall of 2013 and continued his studies in Indigenous Education.

In the fall of 2015, Richard decided to pursue his passion for teaching at the K-12 level, he applied to the Faculty of Education University of British Columbia, he was accepted into the B.Ed./NITEP (Native Indian Teachers Education Program) where he is currently completing his Graduate Studies as Teacher Candidate

The riding of Cariboo North runs from Hixon in the North to Wildwood ( just north of Williams Lake) to Likely in the East, and to the Fraser River near McLeese Lake going to the West.

The other people in the race to become the 2017-21 MLA for Cariboo-North includes incumbent MLA Coralee Oakes of the BC Liberal Party, current Quesnel City Councillor (and BC NDP Candidate) Scott Elliott and current School District #28 (Quesnel) Board of Education Vice-Chair (and BC Conservative Party Candidate) Tony Goulet

The 41st General Election, for voters of British Columbia, takes place on Tuesday, May 9th, 2017.