Wondering who’s behind the colourful signs, media soundbites and party slogans? Get a sense of where candidates in the Victoria and Saanich-Gulf Islands ridings are coming from in the Martlet’s 2008 federal election candidate profile feature.

Adam Saab

Victoria Green Party candidate Adam Saab arrived fresh on the scene for this election. The recent UBC grad claims that his abilities combined with an experienced team justify a place for his name on the ballot.

“I’m the representative of the Green Party, but I’m not alone,” says Saab. “I have a very strong team that works with me. I have full generations of experience on my side.”

After finishing his education in 2007, Saab moved to Victoria and began volunteering with the Greens. Organizing campaigns led to an offer of candidacy.

At UBC, he completed both philosophy and psychology degrees, disciplines which he says help him to deal with people and policy.

“I just followed what seemed right [after I graduated] and what I was passionate about, and I ended up here,” Saab said.

“Before I could vote, I was influenced by my family,” Saab said, saying that their influence introduced him to “the idea of what the environment does for us for free.” He went on to describe the process which brought him from his pre-voter years to where he is now.

“It stemmed from that to understanding we have to take a very integrated approach to everything we do in our lives.” Eventually, “I started to understand that the Green party had something good going for them,” Saab said.

“When you deal with any one big name issue, it will have an effect on all the other big name issues,” he said. “Taking care of the environment is just a necessary priority, and will help you ensure that you take care of everything else.”

Anne Park Shannon

“I chose to become the candidate for the Liberal Party because I think this election we’re having is probably one of the most important we’ll have in our lifetime,” said Liberal candidate Anne Park Shannon. “It’s about our future.”

Park Shannon was approached by Liberal Party representatives with an offer of candidacy in March of last year.

“Stéphane Dion is a man of great courage, and of ideas,” she said, voicing admiration for the Liberal leader. “That’s the kind of qualities I expect from a leader: someone who will help us meet the challenges of our future and talk openly with Canadians about them.”

Park Shannon cites a wealth of past political experience as justification for her candidacy.

“I have a background at the national level and international level,” she said, noting her experience as a senior member of Canada’s Foreign Service, and in a senior position at the Ministry of Finance.

She also emphasized experience with two of this election’s hot-button topics.

“We need to be making the transition to a greener economy, and I’m particularly interested in that because of my background as an environmental negotiator and someone who’s very much involved in the economy and trade,” she said.

“I know a lot about how policy is made in Ottawa. I think I would hit the deck running.”

Denise Savoie

NDP incumbent Denise Savoie says that once the federal election is over her first priorities will be sleep and time with family.

Since 2006, Savoie has been the MP for the Victoria riding. Regarding that time, she said that she wouldn’t make any major changes in her approach if re-elected.

“I feel that I have been able to have an impact,” Savoie said. She attributes that impact in part to the leadership of Jack Layton, saying, “I think that Jack listens when we speak. It’s not a one-man band.”

An educator by trade, Savoie has held the position of NDP post-secondary critic since her election two years ago. She tabled a Post-Secondary Education Act (Bill C-398) intended to establish further federal post-secondary funding guidelines in February of last year. It is now awaiting second reading.

Savoie said that she got involved with the NDP because she believes in their approach.

“I think it’s the [party] that most closely matches my values and allows me to vote with my conscience,” she said. “I think [the NDP] really represents a balanced approach to governing.”

Jack McClintock

Long-time Conservative supporter Jack McClintock is in the running for the first time this election. A Victoria police officer for over 25 years, he was acclaimed to the candidacy in 2007. McClintock also ran in the 2004 Conservative nomination race, losing by 13 votes.

“When the writ was dropped, it was time to move on and go fully committed into this election,” McClintock said.

He and his wife has previously made the decision that he would retire either next January or when an election was called.

“I believe in [the Conservatives’] approach to fiscal prudence, their social direction, and the direction they’re going as far as the economy is concerned,” said McClintock.

He also spoke confidently of party leader Stephen Harper, citing prior experience evaluating people as a police officer on the job.

“I made a quick decision that Stephen Harper was an honourable man, a man of integrity, a man I could trust,” McClintock said.

Those years spent as a police officer are what McClintock said led him to politics.

“It was the things I saw happening in the absence of accountability,” he said. “I got involved in about 2000, when I realized I could make a difference.”

His career, he said, also helps to qualify him for office.

“It certainly made me aware of what’s going on in people’s lives.”