Image: Green Party / Chilliwack-Hope Green Party candidate Salina Derish.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Federal election

Former Army reservist, truck driver and correctional officer to run for Green Party in Chilliwack-Hope

Feb 24, 2025 | 10:11 AM

CHILLIWACK — A Chilliwack entrepreneur who previously worked as an Army reservist, truck driver and correctional officer will run as the Green Party candidate for Chilliwack-Hope in the next federal election, which could come in just a few months.

According to a news release Monday, Salina Derish, an environmental advocate, has been selected as the Green Party’s candidate. In 2018, she founded PickEco Refills, the Fraser Valley’s first zero-waste grocery store. To minimize environmental impacts, she launched PickEco Compost in 2020 as a way of offsetting her business’s carbon footprint. As president of PickEco Zero Waste Society and a founding director of the Downtown Chilliwack Market Society, the Green Party says she has worked to strengthen food security, support local farmers, and inspire real change.

“I grew up in the Fraser Valley, but Chilliwack is where I found home” Derish says. “From sustainability and food security to protecting both people and the planet, my work has always been about making life better for all.”

As a member of the Canadian Armed Forces and later a commercial truck driver and correctional guard, the Green Party says Derish understands the challenges of long hours, tight budgets, and a system that doesn’t always work for everyone. Derish reckons leaders should unite people, not divide them, and is dedicated to safe communities, fair opportunities, and a healthy future.

“Change begins with leaders who don’t just talk about what’s possible but show it through action. Salina embodies these values,” says Debora Soutar, CEO of the Chilliwack-Hope Federal Green Party Association. “Salina is an excellent representative for the Green Party. She’s a hard-working mother, small business owner, and passionate advocate. Our riding deserves a leader like Salina, who puts Canadian and Green values first.”

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Derish has consistently traveled throughout multiple communities promoting ‘Attainable and Sustainable’ solutions, practical steps that make a real difference.

“Sustainability isn’t about perfection, it’s about progress,” she notes. “In uncertain times, whether due to economic shifts, environmental challenges, or global instability, local solutions matter. I am committed to policies that empower communities, strengthen local economies, and prioritize sustainability. With renewed calls to ‘buy local’ in response to proposed U.S. tariffs, such advocacy is more relevant than ever.”

In addition to her business and volunteer activities, Derish actively hikes Chilliwack and Hope-area trails and free-dives, without scuba tanks, to retrieve sunken items from local bodies of water, including Cultus Lake and the Vedder River.

The Green Party says team building and preparations are underway to ensure Derish’s campaign elevates the Green Party presence in the Chilliwack-Hope riding.