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This article was published 27/7/2019 (426 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Nick Brown, the former president of the Brandon University Students’ Union, is set to be nominated as the NDP candidate in Brandon West.

Brown announced his candidacy at Brandon University on Friday but won’t be officially nominated until a meeting Monday. He is set to run against incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA Reg Helwer in the Sept. 10 provincial election.

CHELSEA KEMP/THE BRANDON SUN Nick Brown announces he's seeking the NDP nomination in Brandon West during an event at Brandon University on Friday.

In his announcement speech, he said he had been working with Brandon East NDP candidate Lonnie Patterson before deciding to jump into the political foray himself. He said his experience in student politics has also given him perspective on the issues.

"I figured with a lot of my experience (at BUSU) advocating for some of the least experienced, lowest-income people in Brandon, that I could take that knowledge that I learned there and apply it to all of Brandon West."

Brown served four years on the BUSU executive, including two years as vice-president internal and two years as president. He also ran for city council in the 2018 municipal election in the South Centre Ward but lost to Coun. Bruce Luebke.

He said he hopes to translate his success in advocating for student issues and apply them to broader issues in the constituency.

"I feel like I can take some of that passion, some of that drive that I learned, and apply that to Brandon West in fighting a number of issues: climate change, addictions, health care, education. I believe those are a number of issues that people in Brandon West are very passionate about and that I can hopefully champion going forward."

Helwer also served as BUSU president when he was in university — something Brown said he hopes bodes well for his chances in provincial politics.

If elected as MLA in the provincial election, Brown said he would do more to tackle climate change, an area he said the current government has failed to do. He suggested adding solar panels to public buildings and schools to teach people more about climate issues and lead by example.

His experience working as a security guard at Samaritan House’s safe and warm shelter has given him insight into the province’s addictions issues and direct contact with those affected. He said an NDP government would do more to combat addictions in Manitoba.

Affordable housing is another major issue in Brandon, Brown said, and a policy point he would like to see more action on.

"I lived in residence for four years — McMaster Hall — I loved every minute of it, but it is an ancient building, it’s from 1974 and Darrach (Hall) and Flora (Cowan) are from the 1950s. They’re like a military barracks with a bathroom at the end of the hall, and so we are in desperate need of low-income housing in this city."

Brandon University’s planned downtown development could go a long way to addressing the affordable-housing issues the city has, Brown said, especially for students.

"We need to start building low-income housing for those people who want to be here."

» dmay@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @DrewMay_