The British Columbia Green Party announced their new leader after a three-way race. Sonia Furstenau, the MLA for Cowichan Valley, will be taking on the new role after a tight win.
Furstenau won after gaining 52.4 percent of the votes on the second ballot, beating out Cam Brewer and Kim Darwin. Brewer was close behind her with 45.9 percent.
The party announced that 85 percent of eligible voters took part in the election.
In 2017, Furstenau was elected as the first BC Green MLA for the Cowichan Valley. In her new position she will be replacing Andrew Weaver, who stepped down at the beginning of the year to sit as an independent.
In her victory speech she called on Premier John Horgan saying now is not the time to call a provincial election, as the province is dealing with two health crises, and children are returning to school.
“I say to John Horgan, you have a responsibility to govern, not play politics,” she said. “This is not the time to dissolve government, to leave a province leaderless for over a month in hopes of securing more power for yourself.”
The BC Green’s website says that Furstenau hopes the province will stop using fossil fuels and invest in clean energy. Additionally, as a leader, “she will embrace the exciting developments in education, social, and infrastructure policy happening all around the world and put in the hard work required to make them happen.”
“This campaign has reminded me about what’s so special about the BC Greens and I’m excited about the future we will build together,” Furstenau said in her speech.
