Spencer Coyne

My Name is Spencer Coyne.  This blog is my soapbox.

A little about who I am.  I was born and raised in the resource community of Princeton, BC.  Princeton is a small community nestled in the heart of the Similkameen Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia.  Princeton’s main industries have been based in resource extraction.  At one time Princeton also had a bustling agriculture industry but due to changes in market trends, buying practices of grocery chains and provincial legislation, many of the ranches and farms have been sold off as recreational properties.

I have been involved in politics for as long as I can remember.  Some of my earliest memories are of spending time in the union hall of my dad and grandpa’s union when they worked at the mine.  I ran my first election campaign for a friend when I was in grade 5.  He was running for class president.  I was a member of the student council through most of my high school years and when I went to Okanagan University College I was elected to the Student Association where I eventually became a vice president.  I started a resident’s rights movement while at OUC for the students who lived on campus.  I was also one of the founding members of Okanagan Network of Student Activists or ONSA which eventually became Students4Students which still has elected representatives at now UBC-O.  After OUC I came back to Princeton and was elected to Town Council.  I served one term.

I became a writer after my term on Town Council and it has remained a hobby and a passion of mine to this day.  I am now a food activist, advocating for eating local and local food economy.

I live on our family farm with my wife and my son.  My son is of 5th generation on our little farm aka Coyneville.  Here my dad and I have been experimenting with crops to start a market garden in what used to be our old sheep pasture.  Since the changes in provincial legislation it has become harder for small producers to grow and sell their own meat so we are now looking at new ways to keep the family farm alive for the next generation.

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