Saying his health is good and his intention is to focus on local Langley issues, medicinal marijuana advocate Randy Caine has announced he will be running as an independent candidate in the next provincial election on May 9, 2017.
His campaign manager will be Todd Hauptman (pictured below), who made headlines in the 2013 provincial election when he resigned as Langley MLA Mary Polak’s campaign manager, complaining about "hateful attitudes" towards gay people among Polak supporters.
"This is not about the past, this is about the future," Hauptman said.
The press release announcing Caine’s candidacy sets out five main priorities of his campaign; "safe, clean, affordable housing, a renewed appreciation of education and educators, forward thinking environmental policies and revenue streams, creation of a living wage and the removal of the MSP premiums for basic health."
It doesn't mention marijuana, an issue Caine said is "something that's personal to me,” but not something he intends to build a campaign around.
Caine has been undergoing treatment for a slow-moving form of cancer.
He said the results of his latest tests four weeks ago were positive, and his prognosis is good.
"I feel wonderful," he said.
In his press release, Caine said he is already meeting with leaders from various sectors of the Langley community and plans to listen to as many residents as possible leading up to the 2017 election.
The statement added that Caine and his volunteers are hosting coffee parties throughout the community "to talk about how we move Langley forward."
“I am a husband of 40 years and a father of two daughters,” he said in the statement.
“Langley deserves someone who will be a strong voice for them.
“I will fight to win their vote and after election night, I will continue to fight for them every day. It’s time for a real change.”
The Caine announcement called incumbent MLA Polak a "part-time" MLA who "has been absent from this community for too long."