Former Vancouver Canucks owner Arthur Griffiths has set his sights on a career in provincial politics.
The Vancouver businessman said Tuesday he plans to seek the B.C. Liberal Party nomination in the newly-created Vancouver-West End riding in the 2009 provincial election.
Griffiths, lives in a mansion in Point Grey, one of Vancouver's wealthiest neighbourhoods.
By attempting to parachute himself into Vancouver-West End, he is setting himself up for a possible battle with Vancouver Parks Board Commissioner Spencer Herbert, who is already a West End resident, and who is seeking the NDP nomination.
"This has been a dream of mine to get into public life in this way," said Griffiths, during a press conference on Tuesday.
Griffiths is the 50-year-old son of Frank Griffiths, who once controlled the WIC Communications Inc. broadcasting network.
But after sinking millions into the construction of GM Place in the early 1990s, Arthur Griffiths was later squeezed out of the Canucks organization by Seattle businessman John McCaw.
While maintaining a fairly low profile for the last several years, Griffiths was a member of the Vancouver-Whistler domestic and international bid committee which secured the 2010 Winter Games.
He joined the international sports marketing agency Octagon as executive vice-president last fall.
In seeking the Liberal Party nomination in Vancouver-West End, Griffiths is hoping to replace Vancouver-Burrard MLA Lorne Mayencourt, who has held the seat since 2001.
The Vancouver-West End riding is now bordered by Jervis, West Georgia and Burrard streets after the B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission changed the provincial riding boundaries this year.
Griffiths says he will be talking to voters about issues such as homelessness, mental health and affordable housing.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Reshmi Nair
