East Kent Councillor David VanDamme isn’t done with his political career. 
Last month, VanDamme pulled out of the municipal election, and has now set his sights on Parliament Hill, announcing he’s planning to run for the Chatham-Kent-Leamington federal Conservative nomination.
After one term on municpal council, VanDamme says he’ll bring some expertise to the table, if elected.
“In this ward that I’ve represented, I’ve really got to know the grassroots issues, some of the core challenges that we face as a municipality,” VanDamme says. “My hope is that if I’m able to move on to the federal level, I can have these discussions with the government and see if we can deliver on some of the challenges that we face in this riding.”
VanDamme says some of those challenges include shoreline erosion, cap and trade, greenhouse and seasonal agricultural workers, and farm safety net programs.
Local federal conservative party members cast their votes this fall for who they’d like to run for MP in 2019, however at this poitn a date for the nomination meeting has not been set.
So far, VanDamme will be running for the Conservative candidacy against local businessman Mike Grail and Ridgetown resident Toyin Crandell.
