A homemaker and small business owner from Miami wants to represent Midland constituency in the Manitoba Legislature. Stacey O'Neill is running under the Green Party banner in this provincial election.

She's lived in the constituency for 11 years, and is a green space management, and emergency medical responder. O'Neill also has experience as a baker, garden centre, serving in the Canadian Forces, and continues to serve as a member of the Miami Fire and Rescue.

O'Neill says the federal election proved there was a need for change in Canada and believes that need is also apparent in Manitoba.

"I feel that the Green Party is a viable option for Manitobans. Making a change in Manitoba is not getting rid of a stale government, it's about making room for a new generation of policy makers that care about the topics that are near and dear to Manitobans."

She feels those topics include taxes, health care, education, agriculture and the economy and adds the Green Party has a number of proposals it would like to put forward province-wide.

The first is a guaranteed annual income which O'Neill says would reduce poverty in Manitoba by almost half.

The second priority is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while stimulating the economy by providing more jobs in the green industry.

O'Neill adds the Green Party would also like to eliminate the Education Property Tax.

"We feel that the school funding can be a little bit more equitable in per-pupil funding and as well as getting rid of mil rates."

Finally, she says her party plans to promote healthy living and disease prevention.

"We find that only four cents of every one hundred dollars is spent on health promotion and most of the ailments and hospital crises that occur are diet and exercise related."

We asked O'Neill why the people of Midland should mark an X by her name on the ballot.

"I'm going to be a thorn in the side of any government that's going to be elected. I"m really vocal and I want to ensure that the people that are elected are going to keep their promises and improve upon them."

She would also like to encourage more communication between voters and their elected officials.

"In this day of social media it should be easy, it's not just about communicating with voters while an election is ongoing."

Meantime, O'Neill only filed her nomination papers last week and says she's hitting the ground running in her campaign. While she hopes to get to most communities within Midland, O'Neill says constituents can also follow her and communicate via social media.