Longtime union activist Judy Darcy is throwing her hat into the ring to succeed Dawn Black.
On the heels of this week's announcement that Dawn Black is leaving provincial politics, the jockeying in the NDP ranks to find someone to fill her shoes has led to Darcy becoming the first person to declare her intentions.
"New Westminster is my home and it's a very special community," she said. "I'm very excited to seek the nomination and put my skills and experience to work tackling the issues . like our schools, health care and transportation challenges."
Darcy is well-known in labour circles, having served as president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees from 1991 until 2003.
During her tenure as CUPE national president, she helped increase the membership from 406,000 members to more than 525,000 members in 13 years.
Darcy, who was born in Denmark, was raised in Ontario and is no stranger to seeking political office.
In the 1988 federal election, Darcy was the NDP's candidate against Liberal Frank Stronach and Progressive Conservative John E. Cole in York-Simcoe. She finished third in the suburban Toronto riding.
After finishing her CUPE duties in 2003, Darcy moved to British Columbia, where she tried to win the NDP nomination in Vancouver-Fairview in 2004. She lost by 76 votes to businessman and now Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson.
Just after her loss to Robertson, Darcy returned to her trade union roots, becoming the secretary-business manager and chief negotiator with the Hospital Employees' Union in February 2005. She is married to Gary Caroline, a human rights and labour lawyer and she has a 27-year-old son. Darcy's activities outside of politics include photography, gardening, hiking
