Getting to know Shannon Lavell: Friend, mother and Liberal party candidate
By Andrew Zwicker
Bringing more of a female and motherly presence to Parliament Hill and making new friends along the way is the mission new Liberal Candidate Shannon Lavell has set for herself. If all goes according to plan, this determined and passionate individual, mother, aspiring politician and nurse hopes to take her experience caring for others and solving complex issues to the national stage.
Born and raised in Kelowna where she now makes her home having held a number of different jobs and homes along her journey Lavell recently won the right to represent the Liberals in the BC Southern Interior riding after failing to win the nomination in her home riding of Okanagan/Coquihalla. Although Kelowna is where she calls home Lavell has a lot of love for this riding. A few white-knuckle trips through the Nancy Green Pass and Paulson summit aside, she’s looking forward to getting to know the people of this region in her quest to represent them federally. Having just completed a tour of the region and having spent much time travelling and vacationing in the riding Lavell feel’s she’s got a good handle on the people and issues she hopes to represent. “I have travelled all across the riding. I have friends and family that live there.One of my high school buddies from way back lives in Nelson. My daughter-in-law went and did a fiber arts course for two years in Nelson. I’m not living in the riding, but you know when I drive from Nelson to Princeton and back again, the landscapes, the rivers, the lakes and the people; each community definitely has its own culture. [During] my work at the BC Cancer agency for ten years all total, I worked with people across the southern interior, so with family’s healthcare providers and when I worked with families there were often economic concerns around getting to the various centres for treatment. I feel like I got a sense for the various parts of the riding through that work and my time spent in the area.” A skiing and yoga fan, Lavell doesn’t see an issue with fitting in to our region, and, if nothing else, looks forward to getting more days in at Red Mountain as she spends more time in the region getting to know the people, places and personality that make up the BC Southern Interior Riding. Growing up in a hockey family with a dad who used to play Junior with Trail’s Cal Hockley in Lethbridge and a first love that went on to play in the NHL, Lavell moved around and travelled with her family a fair bit in her younger years. Striking out on her own her natural sense of caring for other people led her through stints working for Air Canada as both a passenger agent and flight attendant before heading off to UVIC’s nursing program in the early 80’s. Going on further to get her Master’s in Nursing and counseling psychology she had the pleasure of working in and around the health care industry an getting familiar with the needs of the patients she worked with and the system itself. During that time she spent a seven year stint as an RN living in Lumby where she discovered a love for small town life and the unique aspects, benefits and challenges that come with it. “I’ve been working with families regarding a number of complex issues. Everything from palliative care, cancer care, eating disorders and just general family support in both urban and rural settings. I lived in Lumby for seven years. I just love working in small town areas where people can work easily together. Overtime I just saw more and more how people living situations and financial situations and political change and how that affected people. I wanted to get involved and I did it.” Having raised two children of her own who are now grown adults, it was the birth of her first grandchild Jada that fired her up to give back and to be a champion for families, children and seniors to do what she can to provide a better environment for kids like her new grand-daughter. “Her coming into the world has been the greatest inspiration for me to get involved and take risks such as public life and that kind of thing. I’ll do it for her and every other child and every other family.” With a three pronged approach to her platform, Lavell recognizes the need for economic and job growth in the region but also sees a strong need for family and child support. With her experience as a mother, nurse and years spent working for the Canadian Cancer Agency she is putting families and children first on her agenda. “In a nutshell, it’s about child poverty. It’s more than child poverty though; it’s children and families and seniors who are coping with financial challenges and it’s wanting to help create conditions for growth for our families and business and basically if you use a job-only approach then you’ve only got one oar in the water. The benefit of having a few more women in government is hopefully getting that other oar in the water which is affordable housing and childcare / early learning programs. With both oars in the water we can stop spinning in circles and start making some real progress.” Lavell has shared many a healthy discussion and debate around her own dinner table and feels there’s sure to be crossover between the skills it takes to run a family and the skills it takes to work with a diverse range of constituents and other politicians. It’s that sense of healthy, productive debate and allowing everyone to have a voice that drew her to the Liberal party for her first run at public office. “What I love about the Liberal party is that even though we don’t always appear to be the most cohesive bunch, it’s because we’ve got and promote freedom of speech and we get the issues out on the table and we discuss and disagree and figure out solutions to them. In order to do that you have to be honest about what the issues are and allow party members to speak their mind. There are a lot of good ole Italian family style debates among the party. I like that part because Iganatieff is a team player. Above all he is a phenomenal team player who won’t burn out because he knows how todelegate and he knows he has heavy hitters in his caucus he can rely on.” Healthy is the key word when discussing debate with Lavell. One of her founding principles is that real results start happening when strong relationships and friendships are built first. Be that with opposing politicians, various stakeholders or the people of the riding, she is on a mission to build productive and long lasting friendships to further our region. “When friendly relationships happen that’s when change happens. That is my raison d’être; to create and grow relationships. I want to be connected to people, that’s what I’ve been doing my entire life; problem solving complex issues and this type of political work is really no different. I just want to jump in and be more than just the federal representative. I want to be a strong collaborator with provincial, municipal and regional district people. I think collaboration with all levels of government is a must. “ If Lavell is able to make those connections in the riding and develop those friendships she sees more prosperous times ahead with growing families as well as growing economies. All that will take is continuing to get to know the people and issues of the riding, building relationships and perhaps putting a few more women into the federal government while she’s at it. “In our little corner of the universe in the southern interior, we’ll end up in a better place in short order by the time the next election comes around which will be in four years if I could have my way if I’m elected. Women in general need a bigger foot in the door and more opportunity. We’re a big part of the economy and we make a lot of the financial decisions for families. A vote for Shannon is a vote for friends, families and a more prosperous future.”
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