WINDSOR JUNCTION: Marni Tuttle knows the hard work begins now.
Tuttle, from Windsor Junction was recently declared the winner of the Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank Liberal nomination, besting Steve Sinnott to become the candidate for when the next provincial election is called.
Tuttle is looking to keep the seat red and takeover from where MLA Bill Horne has left off. Horne announced previously he wasn’t re-offering setting up the nomination.
“It was an exciting process. It was incredibly rewarding,” said Tuttle on the nomination. “I’m thrilled to represent Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank in the next election on behalf of the Liberals.”
The mother of four girls said now that she’s the official candidate, there’s a lot of work to do.
“I need to get out in the community and talk to people I didn’t get to during the nomination process, expand my reach,” she said. “There’s a lot of work to do in the riding, whether that’s Wellington or the Dartmouth end of Waverley, and Beaver Bank as well.”
Tuttle, a dedicated community volunteer, is working on putting together a team that will help her become the riding’s next MLA.
“It’s very future focused for me, so in addition to those who have been part of the party for a long time we can bring in some new faces and younger faces, and get to work,” she said as the wind blew in off Third Lake at the WJCC beach.
If elected the next MLA, Tuttle said her focus would be on the future.
“I would really like to focus not just how we can come out of the COVID-19 pandemic in a better situation, but how the pandemic has given us an opportunity to change things,” said Tuttle. “One of the lead things is around the environment, its connection to the economy and how we’re going to move forward around those pieces.
“The other issue is we have a great opportunity to work on out here is how do we make our community a friendly place to age, and what can we do so young people can stay here as they move forward.”
Tuttle feels Beaver Bank will be in a much better positing after the next election as the community will fall under one MLA, not two as it currently does. It is split between PC MLA Brad Johns and MLA Horne.
“It will be a unified Beaver Bank under one MLA and will be able to give an easier path for projects to move ahead,” she said. “I’m excited that they will be under one MLA.
She said Horne has been a classy, quietly courageous and a tough act to follow.
“I think Bill and I have our roots in the same place, we both started with community organizations and getting to know people and spending time helping them achieve goals that they had,” said Tuttle. “He’s been an incredible advocate for our community.”
Tuttle said her approach to not knowing when an election will be called is to just get to work.
The number of people who signed up, Tuttle said, changed the face of the area’s Liberal membership. It’s younger and more gender balanced then it was three months ago, she added.
She said the response has been phenomenal from people she has met congratulating her.
“I can’t believe how many people were following along,” she said. “It was unexpected how many people signed up and how many who signed up who had never been part of a political party before. That’s been exciting and rewarding for me.
“I think the other thing that has been rewarding is the number of youth and those in their 20s who became involved.”
