'I will get the job done': NDP candidate Kim Churchill officially launches byelection campaign

New Democratic Party candidate Kim Churchill officially launched her campaign for the upcoming byelection in Conception Bay East-Bell Island in an event at Murray's Pond Fishing & Country Club in Portugal Cove on Sunday.

Dozens of supporters attended the event, among them Newfoundland and Labrador NDP Leader Jim Dinn and federal NDP president Mary Shortall.

While Churchill said she had never seen herself going into politics, now seemed like the right time. 

"Throughout my life, I've had to face so many obstacles, and I overcame every single one of them," Churchill told reporters Sunday.

"I've never allowed anything that's happened to me to stop me from doing the things that I wanted to do. And in fact, the things that have happened to me have only proven to make me a stronger person and fight even harder."

Churchill made national headlines in her fight for proper education for deaf children in the province, one of them being her son Carter. Churchill and her husband took the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District to court to ensure Carter could be taught using American Sign Language. They won the human rights case in March.

"No parent should ever have to fight for human rights, like education, and no one should ever have to fight for basic needs. Yet we see that happening every single day in this province, with affordability, housing, health care," Churchill said in her speech to supporters. 

"This is made worse by a Liberal government that does not seem to get it."

Churchill said the NDP is the only party she could have imagined running for, given its support throughout her fight for her son's education.

In turn, provincial party leader Dinn described Churchill as an ideal candidate who cares about the same issues, like improving health care, solving the housing crisis and making the provincial education system more inclusive.

"We need the NDP in government. That's basically what we need. And until then, we need a strong, vocal opposition to hold government accountable," said Dinn.

"This is where Kim comes in. She's articulate, tenacious, she has a strong sense of social justice, determined and courageous. I would have to say I would rather have her on my side than fighting against me."

Churchill herself emphasized her focus on health care, housing and affordability, but also the need for better services for Bell Island, including a shore-based ferry manager.

"When I talk to people on Bell Island, one thing is very clear: They are being treated much differently than the rest of the province," she said.

"The ferry is the lifeline for the residents of Bell Island, and everything is connected to it. Without it, we'll never see health care improve. We will never see economic developments improve. We will never see tourism improve. And what happens on Bell Island does impact all of us. We have seen how the government has ignored the residents of Bell Island, has given a knee-jerk reaction to homelessness, has forgotten seniors who are on fixed incomes."

Churchill is going up against well-known candidates. Fred Hutton, former journalist and advisor to the premier, is running for the Liberal Party, while PC candidate Tina Neary has been a Portugal Cove-St. Philip's town councillor for years.

Darryl Harding, former PC district association president and Portugal Cove-St. Philip's town councillor, is running as an independent candidate. In December, Harding accused PC Leader Tony Wakeham of choosing Neary as the candidate without a fair and open nomination process.

All four are vying to fill the chair of David Brazil, the former interim PC leader who stepped away from politics at the end of December to focus on his health. The district has voted Conservative for the last 20 years, and the NDP won only 10.7 per cent of the vote in the last district byelection.

Churchill said she tries not to think about the other candidates and instead focus on herself.

"I will say that there's a huge difference between telling a news story and being the news story. There's a huge difference to having lived experience and being the person who can be in the House of Assembly and have walked the walk than a person who has just worked with other people and can tell a story. I've lived it," she said.

"I had to go up against one of the biggest entities in this province and win. So I've already proven myself to people. They know the story and they have confidence to know that I will be the person that when I'm in the House of Assembly, I will get the job done."

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