On the phone with fitness professional Trish Purdy, District 4

Four years ago, when Trish Purdy started her divinity degree at Acadia University, she knew her end goal was to help her community in some way. When she saw that her current councillor Lorelei Nicoll decided not to run in this election, Purdy felt now was her time. “To represent and advocate for my community would be a high privilege,” says the District 4 (Cole Harbour–Westphal) candidate.

Purdy—who has three biological children and three adopted children with Ken, her husband of 23 years—says her family is a big reason she’s ready to take on being a city councillor. “I have mitigated lots of personalities,” she says. “I feel like I've gone through bootcamp in learning how to create peace when there's chaos.”

She has several campaign commitments, including better support for seniors, promoting local businesses, affordable housing, addressing city infrastructure issues and public transportation. But at the top of the list is community networking and programming, for the area’s seniors and young people.

“There's so much potential for our youth,” says Purdy, “and we could utilize the knowledge and the skills and seek the experience of the professionals in our own community to teach in a fun and informative way.”

Purdy wanted to make her commitments doable because she understands she won't be making the decisions alone. “I didn't want to campaign on promises that were not within my power to bring about. It has to be voted through council, and there are a lot of steps that need to happen first before things like that get approved, so I focus on people and programming.”

Purdy says her passion for putting people first comes from her 26-year background in the health and fitness industry. She thinks that same passion will make her a good councillor. “I want to help people. That is my sole purpose in doing this. I want to be able to be a real practical, hands-on person that people can call.”