Thursday September 25, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Emily Lowan is the new leader of the BC Green Party. At age 25, she is one of the youngest-ever party leaders in BC.
She is a climate activist and leans further left than previous leaders or interim leaders.
The leadership announcement was made in downtown Victoria on Wednesday, September 24. This follows a leadership campaign conducted mostly over this past summer and much it conducted online.
The BC Greens are looking for “lasting change in the way we do politics”, said Jeremy Valeriote who has been the BC Green Party interim leader since January 2025.
Former BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau and previous BC Green Interim Leader Adam Olsen were acknowledged by the event’s emcee Rob Botterell, MLA (Saanch North and The Islands) and BC Green House Leader — for their work in building the party.
Leadership race results:
There were 9,829 eligible voters. That’s 68% of the new members since October 19, 2024 chose to get verified.
8,641 eligible voters cast a ballot with 61% turnout.
It was a ranked ballot system; 2,620 votes were needed to win the leadership contest.
The candidate with the fewest votes was eliminated on the first ballot and their votes redistributed.
The first ballot results:
- Adam Bremner-Akins – 128
- Jonathan Kerr – 1,908
- Emily Lowan – 3,189
Lowan’s remarks:
In her acceptance speech, Lowan thanked her two competitors, saying that Bremner-Akins brought in students and service workers to the race and that Kerr recruited dedicated talented doctors and was both fast and precise.
Greens can run and win locally, the new leader said.
This leadership race has “captured the imagination of a new generation of members and green voters”, said Lowan.
“The campaign was a lightning rod of hope,” said Lowan. “We are building a formidable political movement – taking on billionaires, the largest corporations and big oil — who take far more than they give.”
She said that the BC NDP are making decisions based on scarcity and fear. This is the party with whom the BC Greens have a working arrangement to support BC legislation in the House.
Wealth never trickles down, Lowan espoused — something found to be true after decades of big economies trying that approach since the mid 1980s.
We are hearing the “death rattle of the old world”, said Lowan. “It is up to us to force a new world through.”
She wants to see a reclamation of the BC economy for working people.
Addressing UBCM:
Lowan addressed the municipal delegates at the Union of BC Municipalities convention in Victoria today, September 25.
“I know that each of you sees, everyday, the struggles your neighbours and families are facing,” said Lowan in her remarks to UBCM. “You see firsthand the consequences of provincial and federal decisions that don’t always provide the support you need to meet the growing and complex challenges.”
“At its core, the province has been downloading the cost of systemic social issues onto municipalities,” said Lowan, to which she received applause from the delegates.
“Local governments are left with more responsibility than ever, without the scale of resources to meet the moment. We need evidence-based preventative care, wrap-around supports, and sustainable provincial funding,” the new BC Green Leader told municipal leaders.
“Instead, we’ve seen creeping privatization of health care, billions in fossil fuel subsidies, and decision taht too often take power away from communities rather than supporting them,” said Lowan.
Fall session:
The BC Legislative Assembly begins their fall sitting on October 6.
The BC Greens are the third party in the House (after the BC NDP and BC Conservatives). The fourth party is OneBC.
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NEWS SECTIONS: BC GREENS | 43rd BC PARLIAMENT | UBCM