GLACE BAY - Fresh from a serious health issue that brought her face-to-face with many of the items she's now discussing on the federal election campaign trail, Jana Reddick is hoping her personal approach will push her over the top when the ballots are tallied in the riding of Cape Breton-Canso on Monday night. 

Reddick, 29, had her eye on an electoral run since her childhood. However, a March 2019 breast cancer diagnosis which later resulted in a mastectomy, combined with the cost of the medications she requires to address this and other health issues, with the catalyst that finally led her to throw her hat in the ring for the federal New Democrats in the riding that straddles both sides of the Canso Causeway.

At the same time, Reddick is hoping to provide a rarely-seen glimpse of diversity in the Nova Scotia wing of federal politics. Should she win, Reddick - whose mother is black - would be the first person of colour and the first members of the LGBTQI community to claim Cape Breton-Canso. She takes this role of representation seriously as she hopes to inspire a new generation of leaders, including her young son Kale, who she is raising in Glace Bay with her partner Ashlea, 

Reddick is facing off against Liberal candidate and Cape Breton-Canso incumbent Mike Kelloway, Conservative candidate Fiona MacLeod, and People's Party of Canada candidate Brad Grandy for the Cape Breton-Canso seat, which takes in the entirety of Richmond County, the grand majority of Inverness County, the southern and eastern sections of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, and the central and eastern portions of Guysborough County. 

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