Can you explain your motivation for wanting to become an MSP?
HAVING worked locally and nationally as a senior councillor, creating and delivering socially just policies that have a tangible impact on our lives, I want to take my experience and drive to Holyrood to ensure that we continue to deliver progressive politics.
What was the first event or thing that got you into politics?
FROM the age of six, I understood that something was terribly wrong with UK politics as I was coaxed away from my papa’s embrace at Prestwick Airport to board a jumbo jet to Canada.
For months I heard my parents planning our departure and my dad repeating “there are no jobs and nothing here for us anymore”, while a knot of anxiety grew in my belly. Scotland’s biggest export has always been her people.
Fast forward to 1988 and the arrival of a care package from my granny that included The Proclaimers’ new album Sunshine on Leith. The moment I heard the line “get in line son, there’s five million waiting”. I became fully awake to the politics of independence. This core belief in sovereignty meant that as a university student in Montreal in 1995, I campaigned for a Yes vote in the last Quebec referendum which was so very narrowly lost.
What’s your career experience beyond politics?
I RETURNED to Scotland late in 1996 after graduating with a degree in journalism and I worked freelance for a while in local media before changing paths to enter the third sector.
I worked first as a community youth worker and then as a youth homelessness worker before moving to work in a council homelessness team. I eventually spent over a decade as a Women’s Aid worker in Ayrshire supporting women and children experiencing domestic abuse.
The experiences of the people I supported over the last two decades means that I strive to create inclusive, progressive policies to tackle endemic and systemic issues such as abuse, addictions, poverty and homelessness.
I have also run three businesses as a sole trader and franchisee (tattoo studio, organic/bulk goods shop and Slimming World franchise) and worked in retail and hospitality. I believe this gives me an understanding of the realities facing our business community and the precariousness of zero-hours contracts.
Why should the people of your constituency vote for you next May?
I WILL be a hard-working, campaigning MSP who puts equalities at the heart of my work for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley ... this means equality of opportunity as well as connectivity.
As we emerge from this pandemic, I want every part of the constituency to be consulted and considered as we strive to use the opportunities presented via the Ayrshire Growth Deal to ensure we create a wellbeing economy with climate change and community wealth building at its heart.
I have a proven track record of political engagement, debate and strategic policy creation and this will be vital as we grapple with the very real possibility of a No-Deal Brexit and the reality of climate change. Both of these issues will have major consequences for the folk of Ayrshire. This will be the parliament that delivers independence and CCDV needs a pro-active, capable and dynamic representative at the heart of it.
With the powers of independence, what’s the one thing about Scotland you would change?
I AM a firm believer in the power of a universal basic income and the fairness that it brings. I believe that an independent Scotland will present us with the perfect conditions to implement such a monumental shift in the way we see social security while freeing
our people to use their ingenuity, creativity and entrepreneurship.
A universal basic income coupled with a real drive for inclusive growth and the pursuit of a green economy will see Scotland emerge as an important independent nation on the world’s stage.
Tell us something unusual about yourself?
I AM a dual citizen and growing up in Quebec, Canada means that I speak French, love snow, poutine, peanut butter and my accent is a tad unusual. I also love wild swimming in lochs and getting away camping and kayaking at any opportunity.
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