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“It was a terribly difficult decision (to run for politics). … I agonized over it,” said Oger, a University of B.C. mechanical engineering graduate and owner of an IT business that serves the high-tech sector. “I had to face my own fears: Am I credible enough to run for office, or am I just fooling myself?”

Her face flashed repeatedly on TV screens on election night as the first-time NDP candidate, given little chance or resources to win the historically safe Liberal riding of Vancouver-False Creek, nearly toppled incumbent Sam Sullivan. The lead see-sawed dramatically all night, and in the end Sullivan squeaked ahead by 415 ballots — just two per cent of the votes cast. It was one of the closest races in the province, an unexpected surprise since Sullivan won by more than 3,000 ballots in 2013.

For Oger, 49, the loss was both heartbreaking and a victory. Despite relatively few donations or political organizers, she nearly defeated a former Vancouver mayor and believes she established herself as a “credible” candidate with better odds to win in the next election. She also, arguably, has a more solid podium from which to lobby for social policy changes.

Photo by Handout / PNG

Although it is 2017 and much has been accomplished, there is still more work to be done, said Randall Garrison, NDP MP for Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke and the party’s critic for LGTBQ concerns.

The federal NDP has been trying for 12 years to change the Canadian Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination against gender identity and expression, and Oger is one of several transgender people who helped with the wording of the proposed legislation. After the election of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the federal Liberals introduced Bill C-16, which Garrison hopes will finally pass in the next three weeks. If that happens, the work of people like Oger will still be crucial, he said, to get businesses and government agencies to abide by the new rules.