The first transgender candidate for the Green Party of Canada is running in the 2019 Canadian Federal election for the Moose-Jaw-Lake-Centre Lanigan riding. 

Gillian Walker is a 28-year-old third-year student of Education at the University of Saskatchewan and says running in this election is important for a number of reasons. 

"The reason why I wanted to run is just to give people an option," said Walker. "It's very important for the Green Party to be represented in all areas, and just giving those people an option on where they want to cast their vote and what they want to say is important." 

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community in Saskatchewan, Walker said that it was important to choose a party that supports that community. 

On Walker's Green Party of Canada web page, it's explained that Walker identifies as transgender non-binary and uses gender-neutral pronouns they/them/their.

"What drew me to this platform is the inclusivity. It's a very diverse party in its platform. It covers things for LGBT content, Indigenous people, and of course that big, number one part: being green." 

Walker said they are interested in "quite a few large topics," primarily climate change. 

"Keeping our emissions down and making transitions within our society towards more economically feasible businesses, technologies, how we get our energy and how we're using it." 

On top of that, Walker said that election reform is also an important issue. 

"That has been something that has been a driving factor for me coming into politics, is that I feel like our representation is not truly a representation. I was a little bit upset last election when the person who was representing me did not receive a majority of the vote, they received the most votes, but the majority of voters didn't actually want that person as their Member of Parliament, and I think that's something that needs to change."

Walker's hopes going into the election are realistic, stating that no matter who you want to vote for, it's the act of voting itself that is important.  

"I suppose I don't really care who you vote for, as long as you're voting. And I think a lot of students are just kind of worried that it doesn't matter, and I'm here to say: it matters a lot for our future and the kind of Canadians we want to be." 

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