Courtney Pyrke is running to become an MLA as the NDP candidate for the Saint John Harbour riding. (Photo: Submitted)
If you asked Courtney Pyrke a month ago if they would run to become an MLA, the answer would have been absolutely not.
Pyrke is the NDP candidate in the Saint John Harbour riding. They study education as a PhD student and work as a librarian.
When Blaine Higgs started talking about the possibility of an election about a month ago, someone asked Pyrke if they would run and since then more people have asked. After being approached by both the Greens and the NDP, Pyrke decided to run because they care about their community and they wanted to help.
“I truly believe that anyone should be able to do this, anyone who cares about their community and who cares about the people should be able to put their name forward and be part of this process,” they said.
The experience of running so far hasn’t been without difficulties. Pyrke said they were walking around the uptown area and as they approached Union Street and neared Waterloo Street, they got a first-hand look at the housing crisis.
“Almost every single person I asked to sign my nomination sheet didn’t have an address, indicating that they are experiencing homelessness, which one means they can’t nominate me to be put on the ballot and two which means they can’t even vote,” they said.
Pyrke said the people who are experiencing the most injustice in Saint John and the most problems in their lives aren’t even able to have their voices heard because of this.
“I really think that as politicians we need to do a better job at including more voices than just our own and more voices than just the people in the government and the people in the legislature,” they said.
Another difficulty they’re having as a candidate is being required to have to submit their sex, which is public information on the Elections NB website. Pyrke said the system is outdated.
“Why do people need to know my sex? That’s something really only my doctor needs to know not the voters. If Elections NB needs to know that information for whatever reason I guess that’s OK but I don’t appreciate them posting that information for everyone to know,” they said.
Pyrke said the reason they chose to go with the NDP is that the party has a stronghold in their hometown of Hamilton, Ont., and their values and beliefs are represented in the platform despite not having as strong a presence in New Brunswick. They said what mattered most to them was seeing those values and beliefs represented in the party.
“I really do care about my community and care about the people here and I think that’s what matters in politics is people who care about people,” they said.
As for the issues in this election, Pyrke thinks the issues are housing, tax reform, municipal reform in Saint John and access to health care.
“It’s definitely something I need to look more into. Obviously I really do care about tax reform and municipal reform and the deficit but I’m not going to sit here and lie to you and tell you that I know all the answers because I don’t. It’s something that I would look to the professionals for their guidance and their opinion,” they said.
Pyrke said access to health care is a problem in the province even without considering those who require specialized care and ties into education.
They said as a non-binary person, there isn’t much health care support in New Brunswick besides Clinic 554.
Pyrke said Clinic 554 involves issues with access to health care and it’s a violation of the health care act.
If the clinic closes down, it has over 3,000 patients who will go on a waitlist, but if it stays open, people from outside Fredericton will still have to drive in and find a place to stay for their specialized healthcare. Pyrke said in Saint John there are a lot of teens in their riding who need that health care and don’t feel comfortable seeking it elsewhere.
They said their partner is a student at Dalhousie University, so they ask about teaching practices and if they are able to practice on Black or Indigenous people to see differences in treatment such as how blue lips present in different skin colours.
“So technically a doctor could go for 50 years in Saint John Harbour and never have to learn about LGBTQ+ health, which in my opinion, that’s a problem. That’s something that’s a systemic issue within their system that they need to figure out,” they said.
Pyrke said as a librarian, they research the topic, collect the info, and sometimes help piece it together. They said when it comes to diversity and multiculturalism and inclusion, they want that to be top of mind and want to know how others are doing so.
“I want to include as many professionals as I can in making these decisions and educating myself on them,” they said.
Pyrke said they will also be looking into education on poverty and low income in the riding.
They said the non-profit sector does so much work and keeps the community going and thriving and never seems to get recognized for that, so they will prioritize talking to the non-profit sector first because they work with the people and issues and know them far more.
Pyrke said those voices need to be heard in the legislature and they want the person who is voted in, to listen to the community and include professionals in whatever decisions they make.
