Poverty and health care are Lyn Edwards's top priorities going into the May 2 federal election. The NDP candidate lists recruiting doctors, job creation and affordable housing as some of the ways she'd go about bettering the lives of Canadians if elected. "The clinics and hospitals are just being overrun because we don't have family doctors for Canadians," says Edwards.

A staunch supporter of the NDP for years, Edwards got involved with the party after listening to longtime NDP MP Ed Broadbent speak. She was a campaigner for a time before deciding to become a candidate herself. After running in the Provincial 2009 election, she got a call from the party asking her to run federally.

"In the summer of 2009 ... Jack Layton started phoning me and asking me to move over to the federal [party]. After some discussion with Jack, the party and my family we decided it would be a good move," she says. Edwards has more time for politics now that her four kids are grown. "My children got older I got more and more involved," she says.

The political life is a hectic one that often keeps women out of the race. Edwards said it was a good sign that this campaign had three women candidates out of four running. "Most women have to nurture their children ... and look after their household needs ... and then you can spend your time in politics after we've done all that," she says.

"When I ran in the [provincial] byelection I was the only woman of nine candidates. Now Barry [Devolin] is the only male of four candidates," she says. "It shows that, yes, we're making headway in women in leadership roles."The biggest challenge in this election is engaging the voters, Edwards says.

"People are just turned off from politics at this time," she says. She's also noticed that parties that normally take a more centrist view are shifting to the left, like the Liberals. "Quite frankly, the New Democrats have been the party of the people and of social justice since our conception," she says.

"The fact is that Jack Layton started to gain momentum with our initiatives. The Liberals have started copying us."And as for the claim that this riding is solidly blue, Edwards thinks that's a myth. "We hear that. When I ran provincially someone said 'we'd vote Conservative if it was Bessie the cow,'" she laughs, noting the riding didn't vote Conservative last time, electing a Liberal instead. Edwards has worked for the City of Kawartha Lakes for 19 years. She's an administrative assistant for its fire service and lives near Oakwood.