Senator Yonah Martin’s chief of staff is running for the Conservatives in Burnaby South in the next federal election.
Grace Seear, who worked as a middle school teacher before she got into politics, secured the Tory nomination on July 7.
“I feel I have a very good understanding of what I need to do to represent Burnaby,” she told the NOW. “As a mother, wife (and) teacher, I feel I have a good understanding the issues families face, because their issue are my issues.”
Seear was born in Korea and immigrated to Canada with her family in 1992.
“I feel I can also be a voice for the immigrants. As you know, my riding has a lot of immigrants,” she added.
Seear got her start in politics while working as a middle-school teacher alongside Martin, who decided to run in the 2008 federal election in New Westminster-Coquitlam. Seear and her husband worked on Martin’s campaign. Martin lost, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed her to the Senate in 2009.
Seear then worked for the Conservative Party as the executive coordinator for two years then went back to work with Martin, and she’s now on maternity leave. Seear said her experience in Ottawa gives her a national perspective.
“For the past six years, I watched our government in action, and I wanted to be part of Stephen Harper’s team and be part of that legacy,” she said. “I got to really, really watch things play out. I am not going to make any false promises. I know what I can do. … Hopefully, the citizens of Burnaby will pick me to represent them in Ottawa.”
When the NOW contacted her, she was in the process of moving from her Coquitlam residence to a new home at UniverCity on Burnaby Mountain.
