One of five people running for the mayor’s job in Campbell River is a relative newcomer to this city. She also ran for mayor in 2018 in her former hometown of Toronto.
In a story published September 13th in the Campbell River Mirror, Saron Gebresellassi, a trial lawyer by profession, said she “fell in love with Campbell River as a city” after visiting a client here.
So, the 35-year-old decided to throw her hat in the ring for mayor. She officially announced her bid for office in early September.
Gebresellassi’s political compass seems to point in a bunch of directions.
On the one hand, she’s a lefty activist and pitbull of a lawyer with political ambitions. But, on the other hand, in a Q & A for the Bay Street Bull when she ran for Toronto mayor, she described herself as “a human rights lawyer with a flare for winning high-profile cases against institutional giants ranging from Starbucks Coffee Company to the Toronto Police Service.”
The following year, she ran for the federal NDP nomination in Toronto’s Parkdale-High Park. She came in a distant 3rd in a three-way race.
After the campaign, Gebresellassi’s filed a human rights complaint against the federal NDP. She alleged that more than 200 of her supporters were denied the right to vote.
On the other hand, Gebresellassi has been seen cozying up to a vocal member of the “freedom convoy” movement that occupied downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks last January and February.
According to the Campbell River Mirror, Stephen “Big Bear” Ross posted a video to Facebook in April 2022 in which Gebresellassi can be seen saying, “Hello, patriots. I am so proud to be in Big Bear’s hometown. He is a shining light for Canada and also a knowledge keeper, a thought leader and really helping us get through this and unify.”
Ross went on to announce in the video that Gebresellassi would be running for mayor of Campbell River.
Ross is the founder of the Big Bear Movement. They help get their preferred candidates in elections across Canada. He lives in the Kootenays and is active in the convoy movement.
Gebresellassi told the Campbell River Mirror that her campaign is independent and not associated with the Big Bear Movement. But she acknowledged that she “did receive an endorsement” from Ross.
VanIsleNews reached out to Gebresellassi through her website for comment but did not get a response.
