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Liberals choose northwestern B.C. candidate

Brad Layton is from Telkwa and sits on that village's council
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Village of Telkwa councillor Brad Layton is the Liberal candidate for the Skeena - Bulkley Valley in this Oct. 19 federal election. With him is party official Carol Fielding from Terrace.

A Village of Telkwa councillor has been chosen as the federal Liberal candidate for the Skeena – Bulkley Valley riding in the Oct. 19 federal election.

Brad Layton was named as his party's candidate at a nominating meeting held late yesterday afternoon in Smithers.

Layton, who works in the forestry industry has also just started his second term as a Telkwa village councillor. He was the only candidate to seek the Liberal nomination.

“I can see our quality of life – being the middle class – declining each year [and] I'm worried about my daughter's future,” Layton said of his decision to run.

“[Liberal party leader] Mr. Trudeau has expressed a lot of views that I follow myself and beliefs that we can have both a strong environment and economic development – we need this development in northern B.C.”

A long-time northwest resident and Liberal supporter, Layton came to the Bulkley Valley in 1987 and got involved in local and provincial politics starting in the early 2000s.

He has worked for Pro-Tech Forest Resources as a forest technician for 29 years and was first elected to Telkwa village council in 2011.

Layton is just getting started with his bid for member of Parliament and he said that he does not plan to start campaigning full-time until September, following a typical 37-day campaign model.

He faces stiff competition from Conservative candidate Tyler Nesbitt of Terrace and New Democrat incumbent Nathan Cullen who has held the riding since 2004.

Layton's nomination makes the Bulkley Valley a hot spot for regional political activity – both Cullen and Rod Taylor, the leader of the Christian Heritage Party, also live there.

(With files from Cecile Favron, The Interior News, Smithers, B.C.).