INUVIK
John Moore may only have moved to the North a few months ago, but already he is pretty invested.

John Moore moved to Inuvik over the summer and is now running as the Green Party candidate in the NWT. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo

Moore has announced that he will run as the Green Party candidate for the Northwest Territories riding in the upcoming federal election.

The Greens are the last of the major parties to choose a candidate for the seat, with Floyd Roland, Michael McLeod, and Dennis Bevington running for the Conservatives, Liberals and New Democratic Party respectively.

Moore said he's not too concerned with having less time than others to campaign.

"In a traditional election, I'm actually ahead of the game," he told the Drum. "This is the longest election in Canadian history. If there's one thing that has become clear to me in the last week, it's that campaigning is expensive."

Moore said his platform is built on two main concerns: mental health and food security. As a new resident, he has experienced the sticker shock at the grocery store and lamented that so much of the available food comes in a box and not from a garden.

"I believe that good mental health starts in the kitchen, and good physical health starts in the mind," he said. "People just aren't getting the nutrition they need."

Moore argued against what he sees as the current practice of piecemeal capital funding and instead said he would support significant infrastructure investment, among other things, that would allow for lower recurring costs in the long run.

"That's something the current government has been too afraid of," he said. "We want to increase tax incentives for energy efficient construction and renovations -- If you invest a little more now, drive down those recurring costs, and in 10 years, it's paying dividends."

That philosophy isn't limited to infrastructure projects. Moore said he would push for a revitalized dental care program in the territory. He said studies show that the vast majority of Inuit children have at least one cavity by age 18, but with a median number of eight cavities.

"The government is already spending $11 million here on this, completely ineffectually," he said.

Including dental care in Canada's health-care system is one of the Green Party's campaign promises, along with the inclusion of prescription drugs.

Although environmental concerns weren't the first thing Moore talked about, they underscored all other goals. He said efficiencies created in all other areas would free up resources to devote to environmental issues.

As for how he came to stand as the Green Party candidate in the first place, Moore said it was as much a surprise to him as anyone.

"I thought that at some point I might join public life, probably with the Greens, but not this election cycle," said the 21-year-old. "I'm happy for the experience if nothing else. I want to bring these issues into the conversation that no one else is talking about."

Moore pointed out that in a minority government, as the next federal one is promising to be, minority voices - both Green and Northern - are much louder.

"There are three seats in the North, but there are dozens of seats in Toronto alone," he said. "Three seats represent 35 per cent of Canada's land mass. It's not in a mainstream party's best interest to develop Northern-specific policies."

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