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B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau stepping down

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 28 Jan, 2025 12:58 PM

B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau says she is stepping down.

Furstenau says she never aspired to be an elected official but is leaving her role as leader of the province's third party feeling a great sense of accomplishment

Sonia Furstenau, Leader of the BC Green Party and Former MLA for Cowichan Valley has announced her decision to step down as leader after a decade of service in local and provincial politics.

Her leadership has culminated in transformative wins for British Columbians, including…
— BC Green Party (@BCGreens) January 28, 2025

She was first elected to represent Cowichan Valley in 2017, but failed to win a seat in the legislature last October when she changed ridings and ran in Victoria.

Furstenau, who is 54 years old, says after the election that she would stay on as leader to help the two newly elected Green members, Jeremy Valeriote and Rob Botterell, navigate the prospect of having the balance of power in the legislature.

But a series of recounts denied the Greens that power and David Eby's NDP came away with 47 seats and a one-seat majority.

Valeriote will now serve as interim leader until a new leader can be selected.

The Greens were first elected to the B.C. Legislature in 2017, when its three members held the balance of power in the NDP government's minority government.

Furstenau became party leader in 2020, shortly before then-premier John Horgan called a mid-pandemic election and won re-election.

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