A mother of two and resident of Antigonish since 1983, Reed is a recognized authority on social assistance and affordable housing policy in the province, according to a release on her nomination.
During her 20 years at the Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre, she helped expand its range of services and its positive impacts on the community. Her research into access to post-secondary education for single parents led to concrete social policy improvements for Nova Scotians. She has played a leading role in helping people living on low incomes to improve their education, employability, and their housing, and then influenced government decision makers by giving them a window into the kinds of situations she had witnessed in her helping work. A strong supporter of accessible transportation, Reed currently works with the Antigonish Community Transit Society and was treasurer for a similar transportation initiative 10 years ago.
About her reasons for offering Reed says, “This is something I’ve carefully considered for a while now. I have a unique perspective on the economic and family struggles that people have to contend with. I’ve clawed my way out of poverty, studied social and economic issues in university, and then worked for years helping people with their own struggles and learning about what helps people to improve their lives, and what holds them back. We all feel the anxiety of our precarious jobs and stressed economy here in Central Nova, and we feel more and more alienated from our national government. I have a deep understanding of our region and the kinds of issues that people here face, and I have a strong drive to improve our region’s prospects by collaborating with others.”
Tom Mulcair’s NDP has announced a slew of initiatives to improve the lives of the people of Central Nova such as strengthening the CPP, rolling back the retirement age from 67 to 65, establishing a national minimum wage and creating a national daycare program, she said.
“The prospect of carrying the NDP banner in the fall election is very exciting,” Reed said. “I’ve been an NDP member all of my adult life. Campaigning would certainly be challenging, but the idea of representing the people of Central Nova really excites me because my involvement in local and provincial organizations has shown me how satisfying that work is.”
