Saturday July 6, 2024 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Breakfast with BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau is next-up on the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce series of events with leaders of the BC political parties.
NDP Premier David Eby addressed Chamber members over breakfast in May. BC United Leader Kevin Falcon addressed chamber members over lunch on June 6, and Conservative Party Leader John Rustad addressed the business crowd on June 19.
Election on October 19:
The official 29-day campaign starts September 21, ahead of the October 19, 2024 BC Provincial Election.
Advance voting starts October 10 (continuing on October 11, 12, 13, 15, and 16). Thanksgiving is on Monday October 14. | CALENDAR/RESOURCE PAGE for BC ELECTION
Shifting to downtown:
Furstenau will be running head to head with prominent NDP cabinet minister Grace Lore in the downtown riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill.
Furstenau is the outgoing MLA for Cowichan Valley (where was elected in 2017 and again in 2020).
Furstenau told media earlier this season, with bravado, that ‘she always wins’ wherever she runs.
Furstenau spent over two decades building a family and a community in Victoria. She earned three degrees at UVic, operated small businesses, and taught in the Victoria School District.
Back in February, when announcing her run for Victoria-Beacon Hill she also announced her relocation back to Fairfield which she strongly implies feels like home.
Six candidates in Greater Victoria area:
In addition to Furstenau running in Victoria-Beacon Hill, presently there are only 17 other candidates running across 93 ridings.
Here on the Greater Victoria area that includes five BC Green candidates: Camille Currie in Esquimalt-Colwood, David Evans in Juan de Fuca-Malahat, Dr Lisa Gunderson in Oak Bay-Gordon Head, Ned Taylor in Saanich South, and Christina Winter in Victoria-Swan Lake.
Building up from two:
After former BC Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver quit in late 2019, Furstenau’s party was reduced to two — herself and Adam Olsen — in the 2020 snap election called by then-Premier John Horgan.
In many ways the Furstenau-Olsen team has been the conscience of the BC Legislative Assembly, a tough slog. Olsen is not running for re-election in Saanich North and the Islands.
Open call, party undergoing change:
In many ways, it seems like the BC Greens will be fighting to hold on tooth and nail in this fall’s election. They have some strong up-and-comers in Camille Currie, Ned Taylor and David Evans, but even with any of those three winning it will be a new day for the BC Greens in the BC Legislature after October 19 (the next legislative session is scheduled to start in February 2025).
This past week, Furstenau and Olsen posted a video to their mailing list and posted online, pitching an open call for anyone who would like to be a BC Green Party candidate in this fall’s provincial election.
That seems as open as the possibilities for what the party might represent going forward. The baseline of the Greens at any political level is about protection of the environment. Over time they have emerged to rely on evidence-based
Breakfast registration online:
The chamber breakfast event to hear from Sonia Furstenau on Tuesday September 10 at the Hotel Grand Pacific is $88 for members, $115 for non-members. The format includes breakfast networking, keynote speech, and moderated Q&A.
===== RELATED:
- BC election ‘already in the history books’, says Rustad (June 19, 2024)
- “British Columbians are mainstream not extreme,” says BC United Leader Kevin Falcon (June 6, 2024)
- Furstenau takes BC Green fight to downtown Victoria (February 1, 2024)
- NEWS SECTIONS: POLITICS | BC ELECTION 2024
===== ABOUT THE WRITER:
Island Social Trends Editor Mary P Brooke writes political and socioeconomic analysis about the south Vancouver Island area, BC politics, and key national issues.
Her series of publications began in 2008 with MapleLine Magazine which morphed into Sooke Voice News (2011-2013) then West Shore Voice News (weekly 2014-2020), then emerging as Island Social Trends in 2020 (online at IslandSocialTrends.ca) and also now in print (biweekly starting 2024).
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