It will be a battle of David and Goliathssa国际传媒攜es, plural.

A Terrace business owner with no experience in elected office has announced her plan to enter the B.C. Liberal leadership race.

Lucy Sager is a business development expert with a background in maximizing local opportunities from major projects.

The 38-year old says she identifies with the real-world struggles of todaysa国际传媒檚 British Columbian and aims to bring back the sa国际传媒渧ision and valuessa国际传媒� of the party with a diverse economy and wise fiscal management.

sa国际传媒淲e kind of joke around that I have no political baggage,sa国际传媒� Sager says.

sa国际传媒淸But] when you start looking at my practical experience in small business and major projects, with my MBA and my time in oil, gas, constructionsa国际传媒攖his is not theory to me. Itsa国际传媒檚 in my background and Isa国际传媒檝e actually done it. We need some fresh blood and new ideas in the party.sa国际传媒�

Sager will be up against some political heavyweights in the leadership race, including confirmed contender Sam Sullivan, the former Vancouver mayor now MLA of Vancouver-False Creek, and the expected confirmation of former Surrey Mayor, now a conservative MP, Dianne Watts.

Several other high profile politicans are also expected to enter the race in the coming days.

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Sager has never held a seat in the Legislative Assembly but has worked behind the scenes with the Liberal party for several years, as the campaign manager for Liberal Skeena MLA Ellis Ross, and as the riding president.

She has no plans to unseat Ross, but will look for a sa国际传媒渨innablesa国际传媒� riding if elected leader.

In the meantime, she hopes to use her political inexperience to her campaignsa国际传媒檚 advantage.

sa国际传媒淔ive years ago I was bussing tables working my way through grad school, and now Isa国际传媒檓 running for the leadership,sa国际传媒� Sager said. sa国际传媒淚 will totally acknowledge this is a David and Goliath story.

But there are people all across British Columbia who have never been engaged with politics but are passionate about leadership. Theysa国际传媒檙e looking at their small business and saying, sa国际传媒榠f we donsa国际传媒檛 come to terms with how to reconcile small-business tax, Isa国际传媒檓 shutting the doors.sa国际传媒�

The seat for the Liberal leadership opened up following the resignation of former Premier Christy Clark, brought on by the partysa国际传媒檚 narrow defeat in Maysa国际传媒檚 provincial election by a coalition of the NDP and Green parties.

Sager says the loss was due to what average British Columbians see as an inaccessible party. Whatsa国际传媒檚 missing, she says, is a bridge between the interests of northern and southern sectors of the province.

sa国际传媒淲e forgot how to engage people where they were. We have to get back to saying sa国际传媒榳e represent everybody.sa国际传媒�

Jobs and economy are extremely important, but we still have to be empathetic and compassionate to people in Vancouver who are working three jobs to pay the rentsa国际传媒�we need to connect the north and the south, and help them see that these major projects wesa国际传媒檙e working on up here are so you can afford your life down there.

sa国际传媒淚f we donsa国际传媒檛 have major projects going, where are we going to find the resources to share? Thatsa国际传媒檚 the conversation Isa国际传媒檇 like to have with the NDP.sa国际传媒�

Lucy Sager tests the water for the BCLP leadership race on Monday

sa国际传媒� IntegrityBC (@INTEGRITYBC)

Sager grew up in Terrace where her parents worked extensively with First Nations communities on and off reserve; her family, she says, was adopted by Kitsumkalum Chief John Robert.

Sager later attended Northwest Community College before opening a retail store, Out Spokesa国际传媒橬 Bike and Sport. A downturn in the local economy, spurred by the 2010 closure of West Frasersa国际传媒檚 Eurocan paper mill in Kitimat, pushed her to close her doors and head back to school.

She challenged a masters in business degree at UNBC Prince George, which dovetailed into a career with major projects coming into the region.

In 2014, Sager formed Spirit Strategies in Terrace, a company devoted to local business and project development through negotiation, facilitation and community engagement.

In her run for the Liberal leadership, Sager says her qualifications are rooted in some of the areasa国际传媒檚 largest investments in construction, Canadian oil and gas, mining and forestry. At the same time, her focus on families and community-level engagement is a micro-level approach to governance she feels is expandable to the provincial whole.

sa国际传媒淭here are a lot of members in caucus that should maybe have more practical experience to better understand where British Columbians are at,sa国际传媒� Sager says. sa国际传媒淲hat are the struggles and stresses of small business taxes? What does it look like when LNG projects donsa国际传媒檛sa国际传媒� happen? What are the alternatives?sa国际传媒�

Whether Sager is in the race to win, or to make a statement is a question she has heard often since announcing her intention to run. But with signatures on her nomination papers from many long-standing politicians, she says, sa国际传媒渆veryone wants us to be there. Wesa国际传媒檙e taking this very seriously.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淲hat this does is it brings new energy to the party. Because it engages people who have never been engaged beforesa国际传媒�maybe we wonsa国际传媒檛 win, but wesa国际传媒檒l try to win. And everyone else is taking us serious too.sa国际传媒�

The deadline to enter the leadership race is Dec. 29, but all candidates must pay a $10,000 entry fee by Sept. 25 to attend the first leadership forum Sept. 29 in Vancouver.