Monday January 27, 2020 ~ VICTORIA
Today in a livestreamed announcement on Facebook, BC Green MLA Sonja Furstenau (Cowichan Valley) announced her candidacy for the leadership of the BC Green Party.
The 10 am announcement this morning January 27 was made at the Kwench co-working space in Victoria. Furstenau was joined by six endorsers: Eli Enns, Dr. Lisa Gunderson, Andy Mackinnon, Dr. Amita Kuttner, David Slade, and Emily Hiser.
Furstenau who was first elected in 2017 and has been part of the three-MLA Green contingent that has propped up the NDP minority government spoke very briefly about BC needing an innovative modern economy.
The signage on the front of the announcement podium carried the message: “Sonja Furstenau — for every community”.
Threading the idea of collaborative politics, she said that politics is about listening and nurturing and providing a vision for the future. She said that people should be able to “contribute their best self and ideas”, that politics should be about “building up not tearing down, about inviting people in”.
Furstenau says she will be travelling throughout the province leading up to the June 27 vote for leader. She said she wants to show how “BC Greens are just getting started in a new era of BC politics”.
Anyone age 16+ can vote for the BC Green Party leadership, it was announced back in December 2019. Former BC Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver (Oak Bay – Gordon Head) stepped down in November 2019 and BC Green MLA Adam Olsen (Saanich North and the Islands) became interim leader in December 2019. This month Weaver shifted out of the BC Green Party to now sit as an independent, effective January 20, 2020.
The BC Greens are firm that they will support the sitting NDP provincial government under their Supply and Confidence Agreement, until the next BC provincial election which is set for October 16, 2021. Furstenau says she “honours maintaining stable government”.
Former BC Green Party candidate Andy MacKinnon — a forest ecologist and Metchosin municipal councillor — spoke afterward to endorse Furstenau, saying “politics is a strange business”. MacKinnon said “there isn’t much difference between the BC Liberals and the NDP” but that the BC Greens in leadership is an “opportunity to set a new course… Sonja Furstenau can lead us in that regard”.
“I got into politics because I saw a disconnect between the decisions made at higher levels of government and how they affect peoples’ day to day lives,” said Furstenau in a new release shortly after the livestream.
“I have seen time and time again how good ideas get stalled at the provincial level due to old ways of thinking and partisan divisiveness. But, the past two and a half years in office have also made it clear to me that it does not have to be this way,” Furstenau said.
“We need a plan for the future that embraces new ideas and MLAs who have the courage to implement it. We need to embrace solutions to the climate crisis that will improve quality of life and create opportunities for British Columbians. We need to shift away from century-old markers like GDP growth to more meaningful indicators like equality, infrastructure, health and wellbeing. We need to move beyond the tired ideological wars of the 20th century, focus on the concrete outcomes we want to achieve, and work collaboratively to find the best common sense policies to make them happen,” stated Furstenau in the release.
“The BC Green Party has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years, and since beginning initial conversations about my leadership candidacy I have spoken with dozens of potential candidates, supporters and members who are excited to bring fresh perspectives and enthusiasm to this campaign. These conversations have underscored for me how much potential there is to expand our impact in provincial politics. I can’t wait to travel the province to speak to current and future members and supporters about our shared future,” she said.
Furstenau has launched her campaign website at www.soniafurstenau.ca and said she has hired two co-campaign managers and has raised more than $12,000.