Skip to content

Colleen McDonald runs for position on Port Edward District Council

Municipal elections are Oct. 15
30552848_web1_221006-PRU-Election-bio-Colleen-McDonald-Colleen-McDonald_2

My name is Colleen McDonald and I’m a candidate for councillor in Port Edward.

I was born and raised in Prince Rupert. After furthering my education, living in Victoria and Saskatoon, I met my husband. We decided we wanted to stay in the north and in 1989 we bought an old church in Port Ed which we’ve renovated into our home, and the renovations never seem to end!

We have three grown children, two of whom attended school in Port Ed. At that time, people kept telling me to enroll my kids in Prince Rupert, so I ran for the rural School Trustee to get involved and I held that role from 1997 to 2005.

I currently work in marine response readiness for WCMRC and have a Bachelor of Technology from BCIT. Earlier this year, I co-founded the Port Edward Events Planners (PEEPS) and so far we’ve held a successful Community Earth Day Clean-up and a very popular Kick-off to Summer Picnic, both of which we plan to hold annually. It was time to get the community back together so we could meet our neighbours and enjoy the place where we live.

This inspired me to run for councillor in Port Edward, not just because I love living here, but also because I want to make it a place where people can live, work and play. I’d like to help Port Ed become a community that is more self-sufficient. To make a community grow, you need something more than beautiful green lawns to attract new residents. We have one general store that needs our support, and with the bus service being limited, it’s increasingly important to have access to what we need locally. We have a beautiful field that is barely used, and there are no established trails or waterfront access points to provide recreation opportunities. We have an awesome volunteer fire department that also needs our support to address their training needs. When you look at how other communities are struggling with fire and ambulance services, I’m grateful that we have the PEFR on watch.

We are lucky to live where we do when you consider the fires, floods and water rationing that has been affecting so many other BC communities, so let’s make this a place that we are all proud to call home.

Colleen McDonald