Sonia Furstenau stepping down as B.C. Green Party leader


Sonia Furstenau has announced that he is renouncing as leader of the Green Party of BC, and a new leader will be chosen.

Furstenau, 54, has been the leader of the BC green from 2020 and was a MLA from 2017 to 2024, when he was not chosen in the leadership of Victoria-Beacon Hill.

The game says it will choose a new leader in mid -September.

It is currently represented in the BC Legislature for two for the first time Mlas: Jeremy Valeriote and steal Botterell. Valeriote He is assuming the position of interim leader, but both men said they are not interested in seeking permanent leadership, preferring to focus on their new roles.

‘A great feeling of achievement’

Furstenau had previously represented the driving of the Cowichan Valley, but decided to run in Victoria-Beacon Hill in the last elections, saying that he wanted to be closer to his adult children. However, he lost to the Minister of the NDP Cabinet Grace Lore for 3,688 votes, a margin of 13.7 percent.

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While the province goes to the surveys on October 19, the leader of the Green Party of BC, Sonia Furstenau, is making its launch to voters and describe its position on the key issues faced by British Colombians.

The party announced at that time that Furstenau would remain as the party leader to help manage the transition and play a role in negotiation with the NDP, which won a narrow majority.

In December, the two parties announced a cooperation agreement that describes a list of priorities agreed on both parties, including medical care, affordable housing and the economy.

“I am renouncing today feeling a great feeling of achievement,” Furstenau said on that agreement while expressing confidence in the future of the party and observes his influence despite choosing only five MLA in the last decade.

“We have shown that politics does not have to be a binary choice,” he said. “I think we have really demonstrated how critics and the essentials are BC’s green.”

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BC NDP and BC Greens announce the cooperation agreement

The provincial government says that it has reached an agreement with the Green Party of BC. Prime Minister David Eby says they will work together in shared priorities, such as strengthening medical care, affordable housing and economy growth. As Meera Bains reports, the agreement could improve the stability of the NDP government.

The new MLAs will not apply for leadership

Furstenau said that Valeriote, the MLA for West Vancouver-sea to Sky, will assume the position of interim leader of the party. Geological engineer, Valeriote, previously served as Councilor for the city of Gibson from 2014 to 2018 and as an executive coordinator in the office of the mayor of the Squamish district from 2021 to 2023.

Molly McKay, interim executive director of the Green BC party, said that the rules of the next leadership contest are expected to be published in February, with a new permanent leader who will be elected by “in mid -September” in September.

Both Valeriote and Botterell, who represent Saanich North and the Islands, said they will not look for the leadership position this time.

A woman answers questions on a podium, flanked by two men.
The leader of the BC Green Party, Sonia Furstenau, accompanied by Mlas Rob Bottelll, on the left, and Jeremy Valeriote, answers media questions on October 23, 2024. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press)

Valeriote said that his children are still young, and that he cannot make the time involvement involved in being the party leader.

BotterellWho is the leader of the Chamber for the party, said similar feelings.

“I just were chosen and I am carrying out the inspiring legacy of Sonia Furstenau. What a dream come true. “

Furstenau He said that although he would still be supporting the party, he did not expect to assume an active role, but described his future with the greens as an “aunt” who would share food and advice but would not try to direct the ship.

Master turned into a politician

Raised in Edmonton, Furstenau attended the University of Victoria and obtained a degree in Teaching, a career that continued for several years before entering political fray in 2014 as director of the Regional District of the Cowichan Valley.

There, she was a fierce opponent of the waste discharge permit that allowed an upstream of the Shawnigan lake to receive and store contaminated land.

The dumping permit was canceled In 2017, only a few months before being chosen for the first time as MLA.

A woman speaks in front of a screen that says 'green'.
The leader of the Green Party of BC, Sonia Furstenau, on the eve of the provincial elections in the party office in Victoria on Friday, October 18, 2024. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press)

Mary Pok, who was BC’s liberal minister of the liberal environment at that time, says she respects Furstenau, who did not give up the issues that were passionate.

“She is one of the most authentic and genuine people in politics,” said Pok. “She understood well that although there was a role for partisanship, not everything was partisan.”

Furstenau became an attached leader of the Green Party of BC, and under the then leader Andrew Weaver and together with Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands, the three MLA reached an agreement to underpin the minority government of the PND of John Horgan . The party helped to write the clean BC plan of the province, which established objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Weaver and Furstenau would face each other later after renouncing as a leader, with Weaver publicly criticizing Furstenau to move the game too much to the left. Weaver backed the NDP in the 2020 elections after Horgan called instant elections.

During his time in the legislature, Furstenau pressed for the end of the felling of the old growth size, worked with indigenous communities to put an end to the practice of birth alerts (in which hospitals alerted the well -being Infant about newborns at risk, which disproportionately affected indigenous families), as well as advocate that mental health services are covered by MSP.

Olsen said Furstenau defended problems that would not have attracted attention otherwise.

“She created space for those who really had no voice in our political system,” he said. “When reflecting on his leadership, much courage was needed not to pursue political narratives and focus on the issues that matter to the most vulnerable British Colombians. Sonia was the only leader willing to assume those problems.”

The former BC United Health criticism, Shirley Bond, said he worked closely with Furstenau in a committee of all the parties that examined the best responses to the opioid crisis. Furstenau, said Bond, approached that file with a “ferocity … that really challenged us to think about things in a different way.”

“Greens may not have had large numbers in the legislature, but they brought a perspective that is important to listen,” Bond said.

In statements to CBC before the provincial elections of 2024, Furstenau said that he felt that his party had successfully pushed the government to do more to address the main crises facing the province, including the toxic supply of drugs, affordability and crisis Climate

Furstenau was praised for his performance in the debate of the televised leaders, with many experts saying that he offered a long -term vision for the province, while the other two leaders, David Eby and John Rustad, requested.

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Furstenau and her husband, Blaise Salmon, have a combined family of five children.

She welcomed her first grandson in early December.

Speaking in Victoria on Tuesday, Furstenau thanked the family, staff and followers.

“My heart explodes,” he said. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”



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