Will the Riverdale North Liberals take a cue from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and choose “sunny ways” for their riding?

Sunny Patch hopes so.

The Northwestel Inc. spokesperson, who is currently on maternity leave, today declared her intention to contest the Liberal nomination in Riverdale North for the coming election.

Legal aid lawyer Nils Clarke is also vying for the Liberal candidacy in the riding.

Patch made the announcement, before family and friends, from the backyard of her home at the base of Grey Mountain.

Patch moved to the Yukon at age 24 with the intention of living in the North for just a few years before, “moving on to a fabulous life elsewhere.”

But, “instead of packing myself off to the wilds of a southern city, I’ve stayed and built that exact fabulous life here,” she said.

Patch has lived in Riverdale North for eight years, and shares her home on Alsek Road with her husband and three young children – her youngest is five months old.

Her sister and brothers in law also live in the riding.

“Riverdale North is my home, and I love it dearly,” she said.

“It is my love, my love for this neighbourhood and the Yukon as a whole that has driven me to put my name forward.”

Before joining the northern telecommunications company, Patch worked for the 2007 Canada Winter Games.

In her three years helping to organize the sporting event in Whitehorse, Patch said she “experienced the powers Yukoners have when they join together for a communal goal.”

After the Games, Patch went on to work in communications for the Yukon government Departments of Economic Development and Energy, Mines and Resources.

At Northwestel, Patch co-ordinated a mental health sponsorship program, and organized the company’s role in Bell Canada’s Clara’s Big Ride, a national bike tour by Olympic medalist Clara Hughes to fight stigma and support local mental health programs across Canada.

Since Clara’s Big Ride in 2014, Patch said, Northwestel has moved a large amount of its sponsorship money to mental health organizations.

Through her participation in Northwestel’s mental health sponsorship initiatives, Patch said, she heard about gaps in mental health services in the territory, and the difficulties people have in accessing these services.

She said she doesn’t have her own strategy for fixing problems in the Yukon’s mental health system just yet.

However, she said, “the important step we need to take is to talk to people in the organizations, people who are working in the field, and learn from them what’s missing, what’s needed, and what could be done better.”

Patch said mental health services, as well as childcare for working families, education, and building a strong economy so that Yukon kids grow up and stay in the territory, are issues that are important to her.

“While I’m new to politics, I’ve always been passionate about contributing to a healthy community,” she said.

Indeed, through Sport Yukon, Patch volunteered at two Canada Games and two Arctic Winter Games.

She has also volunteered at the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay and the Klondike Road Relay.

For seven years, Patch was the lead organizer of the All Northern Pond Hocky Tournament.

Asked why she chose to go out for the Liberal nomination, Patch didn’t get into specifics but said her values align with those of that party.

If elected, Patch said, she would promote “the concept of a collaborative government.”

“It’s truly listening to the people, hearing what their concerns are and taking those back and inputting them into the government positions and the government approach,” she said.

Mark Beese, a tools and hardware supervisor at Home Hardware, is the Yukon Party candidate in the riding.

Rod Snow, a lawyer and former president of the Canadian Bar Association, is running for the NDP.

The Riverdale North seat is currently held by Scott Kent of the Yukon Party.

The cabinet minister is switching ridings and will be running as the Yukon Party candidate in Copperbelt South, held by the NDP’s Lois Moorcroft.