Former BC Federation of Teachers President Jinny Sims has thrown her name into the running for the federal New Democratic Party nomination in the riding of Newton-North Delta in anticipation of an upcoming federal election.

Sims, who presided over the BCTF during the teachers' strike of 2005, is the only person to put her name forward for the nomination, which goes to a vote on February 27. A long-time advocate of education and social justice, Sims says her concerns about the actions of the current government prompted her move towards federal politics.

"There's some things that really have concerned me with the way the face of Canada has changed and is changing, and there are lots of decisions being made at the federal level have a real impact on us. Just to demonstrate one thing, HST: that was enabled with federal legislation," she told The Tyee.

"I look at the changes to the employment standards act, we look at the fact that we still don't have a universal childcare program, you look at the fact that we have the highest child poverty rate, and you look at how we look after our seniors, how we look after our young, and how we support our families. So to me it's about the kind of Canada we want, and the kind of Canada we want for our children."

Sims currently resides in Vancouver where she still works with the union as the director of professional and social justice issues division. But she did live in the riding for 22 years and says she plans to move to the area full-time soon in order to be closer to her elderly mother.

A relatively new riding, Newton--North Delta has only been contested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%E2%80%94North_Delta three times, and is currently being held by Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal. Although no election has been announced, Sims says she can't conceive of the opposition parties passing the upcoming federal budget.

"Also there are hints that there could be an election: an ad campaign is always a good signal, and if you've been watching TV recently, there seem to be some pretty strong ads out there," she says.