Bryce Crigger
Conservative Party of B.C.
E-mail: VoteBryce2013@gmail.com
Website: http://nanaimobcconservatives.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bryce-Crigger/464737913595977?fref=ts
Twitter: @brycecrigger
Bryce Crigger is the youngest candidate to step up in the Nanaimo riding so far.
The longtime Nanaimo resident – he was born in Victoria and has lived in Nanaimo since moving here in Grade 3 – and Dover Bay Secondary School graduate will turn 24 halfway through the election campaign.
Last year, he put his accounting studies at Vancouver Island University on hold and went to Australia for seven months on a working holiday visa, where he worked as a bartender and waiter at a golf course in the Gold Coast just south of Brisbane.
The break gave him renewed appreciation for his friends and family, the Island lifestyle and natural environments, and he is considering pursuing a degree in agriculture.
“I would love to own my own farm and be a farmer,” said Crigger.
He got involved with the Conservative Party of B.C. in 2010 and for the year before his departure to Australia, he was the local constituency’s treasurer.
Crigger decided to put his name in the hat after being approached by the constituency past president.
“I want to be a politician because I want to help people,” he said. “The B.C. Conservative Party is the only party right now dedicated to balancing budgets and reducing debt right away.”
One of the issues Crigger is most passionate about is the education system. He thinks the province could do a better job of recognizing individual students’ interests, and encouraging youth to pursue careers in the trades as well as academics.
“We have a one-size-fits-all policy with our secondary education system,” he said.
On the topic of health, Crigger thinks government can do better on the prevention side, such as encouraging active lifestyles and raising awareness about risky behaviours.
He said about half of cancer cases are preventable and the province could be saving that money to look after seniors.