Incumbent NDP Cullen seeking third term

Nathan Cullen was first elected as Member of Parliament for Skeena-Bulkley Valley in 2004 at the age of 31. He was named the New Democrats’ environment critic.

Prior to public office, Nathan founded and ran Maravilla Consultants, a strategic Smithers-based consulting firm strategic specializing in strategic planning and communications training for the non-profit, private and public sectors. He has also worked in community and economic development throughout Latin America, North America and Africa.

As the child of a single mother, and through his work in developing countries, Nathan gained a keen passion for social justice. His move to federal politics was motivated in part by his desire to have a more direct impact on policy decisions related to social justice issues, including worker rights, women’s equality, and First Nations Title and Rights.

In his four years as MP, Nathan has focused on ensuring the voice of Northwest BC is heard in Ottawa, instead of the other way around.

He has been able to highlight issues that matter to his constituents, including the impacts of the softwood lumber agreement and the pine beetle crisis on our forest industry and the threat of fish farms and coalbed methane on wild salmon rivers. At the same time he has managed to bring hundreds of millions of federal dollars into the region by lobbying for important projects such as the Houston multiplex, Smithers airport, Prince Rupert port and the Great Bear Rainforest conservation plan.

Nathan says one of his most fulfilling accomplishments has been helping people with disabilities – many of them seniors – access an under-publicized tax credit. As a result of Nathan’s work, inidividuals recovered thousands of dollars in back-owed taxes from the federal government.

In his role as the New Democrat’s critic for the environment, Nathan has played a key role in the debate over one of the Canada’s most significant challenges: how to stop harmful climate change. Nathan was instrumental in rewriting the Conservative’s flawed Clean Air and Climate Change Act, creating what many have called the most progressive piece of environmental legislation in the past decade.

More recently, Nathan was able to find a creative approach to breaking a committee deadlock and passing Jack Layton’s Climate Change Accountability Act. It was the first time in the world that targets and timelines for greenhouse gas reductions had been put into law.

Nathan has become known throughout the Northwest as a tireless advocate for the people that live here. In Ottawa, he has gained a reputation as an articulate spokesman on local and national issues, and is often profiled on national news panels.

KITIMAT: Nathan Cullen, incumbent MP and New Democrat candidate in
Skeena Bulkley Valley, has challenged his Conservative opponent to a
one-on-one debate dealing with the economy and the environment.

“For years, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives have tried to say that
dealing with harmful climate change would spell economic disaster for our
country,” said Cullen. “We think that is a ridiculous argument.”

“It is time for the people of Skeena-Bulkley Valley to hear first-hand what
the two major contenders in this election have to say on this critical
issue.”

“I am concerned about the way in which the Conservatives are controlling
local candidates in this election,” said Cullen. “It is typical of the
control that Stephen Harper has placed on his back-bench MPs in Parliament,
many of whom never get the opportunity to speak on behalf of their
constituents.

“On a number of occasions, various Conservative MPs have approached me to
 send a message to Cabinet Ministers,” added Cullen. “They seem to think I
 have better access than they are allowed.”

“In contrast, my leader, Jack Layton, has always expected me to speak out on
behalf of Northwest British Columbians. We meet regularly and I pass along
what I¹m hearing at home, which then becomes part of our official policy.”

Cullen confirmed that his campaign would remain as flexible as possible in
the last weeks of this campaign to accommodate Smith’s schedule.Nathan shares his passion for the Northwest with his partner and primary supporter, his wife Diana.

They live in Smithers.