A former British Columbia politician who stepped away from provincial politics two years ago is ready to return, but this time he hopes to run federally.

Former B.C. health minister Terry Lake has confirmed he will seek the federal Liberal nomination in B.C.'s southern Interior riding of Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo.

The riding covers an area from Kamloops in the south to Valemount and the Alberta boundary in the northeast.

It has been held by Conservative Cathy McLeod since 2008.

Nearly three-quarters of the district's population is centred in Kamloops, where Lake, a veterinarian, served as a councillor, and then mayor between 2002 and 2008.

Lake has spent the last two years as vice-president of corporate and social responsibility at Quebec-based marijuana company Hydropothecary Corp.