Jason Blanch

I have been a Green Party of Canada member since 2009. I use he/him pronouns. I live with my wife Julie and our two teenage children just outside Amherst in an off-grid, super insulated passive solar house that I built over the past 4 years. I have run as a candidate in one by-election and three general elections, achieving 13.2 percent of the vote in 2019. I was elected to Amherst town council in 2016 and served until February 29 of this year. I was instrumental in making many social and environmental changes in my community while serving on council including working with the Amherst Youth Town Council to have Amherst declare a climate emergency and develop a climate strategy that includes hiring an onsite energy manager. I have a Masters degree in Adult Education and work as an Addiction Counselor with the Nova Scotia Health Authority. I have extensive board experience dating back 20 years to when I was the first Chair of the Atlantic Canada Chapter of the Sierra Club of Canada. In recent years I have served as a Police Commissioner, on Amherst's Audit committee and Planning Advisory Committee as well as currently on the board of Eat Local Cumberland and as a representative on the Cumberland County Garden Strategy working group. I understand that board work is not glamorous and exciting but I believe a strong board is crucial to continuing to grow the organization that I am proud to represent as a candidate!