British ColumbiaThree people are vying to lead the B.C. Green Party. The leadership race comes as the party struggles for relevance at a time when climate issues are being eclipsed by tariffs and the economy.The leadership race comes as environmental issues are eclipsed by the tariff disputeKatie DeRosa · CBC News · Posted: Aug 09, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours agoNew candidates line up as B.C. Green Party leader seat up for grabsAfter Sonia Furstenau lost her seat in last year’s provincial election, three people are vying to be the leader of the BC Greens. Aug. 10 is the deadline to sign up new members. As Katie DeRosa reports, the leadership race comes at a time when climate issues are being eclipsed by tariffs and the economy.It’s not easy being a B.C. Green right now.Sonia Furstenau stepped down as leader after losing her seat in the October election. And the Greens just barely hung onto official party status with two seats and its lowest vote share since 2013. Now the party is fighting for relevance, at a time when climate issues are being eclipsed by tariffs and the economyWATCH | B.C. Greens search for new leader: Sonia Furstenau steps down as B.C. Green Party leaderAfter four years as its head, Sonia Furstenau has stepped down as leader of the B.C. Green Party. Jeremy Valeriote, the MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, will serve as interim leader. We spoke to CBC provincial affairs reporter Katie DeRosa about Furstenau’s resignation earlier today.Three leadership candidates, Jonathan Kerr, Emily Lowan and Adam Bremner-Akins, are fighting to re-energize the party and bring the discussion back to the environment, affordable housing and quality health care. Kerr, a 44-year-old family doctor based in Comox, where he’s also a two-term town councillor, says he’s worked on at least a dozen municipal, provincial or federal Green campaigns in about as many years, and his elected political experience gives him the edge. “I’m the only one of the three candidates who has been elected to government,” Kerr tells CBC News during a meet and greet at Sprout Bread in Kelowna. Kerr says he’s frustrated that the NDP government has “dismantled its own environmental regulations” through two new laws that aim to fast-track infrastructure projects. The B.C. Green Party will soon have a new leader, but they won’t be an elected MLA in the Legislature. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press)”Fracking, oil and gas isn’t the answer,” Kerr says. “We need to be looking forward to the future. Clean technology, a clean economy.” Kerr says he’s talked to British Columbians who believe the NDP government has abandoned its climate goals, which gives the B.C. Greens “a huge opportunity in the next election to win more seats and implement more policy.”Emily Lowan, a Victoria-based climate advocate and member of Climate Action Network Canada, a group focused on stopping fossil-fuel expansion and promoting renewable energy, says it’s time for something new.”We’ve had eight years under the same government, and all our major problems have gotten worse. So I think it’s time for new energy and new ideas in B.C. politics.” B.C. Green leadership candidate Jonathan Kerr speaks to CBC News from Kelowna on Aug. 7. (CBC News)Lowan spoke to CBC News from the Gitxsan territory in northern B.C., where she was meeting with Indigenous leaders opposed to the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project, which will supply natural gas to a proposed floating LNG terminal north of Prince Rupert.She says the project will enrich Texas-based Western LNG and American billionaires. A 24-year-old renter, Lowan says her message on income inequality is landing with young people.Her campaign slogan is “Fight the oligarchs. Fund the future.” “It is a rallying call to young people, to working people and everyone else who is disillusioned and fed up with the status quo in B.C.”Lowan says it’s also about redistributing wealth from B.C.’s richest corporations in order to fund essential services such as tens of thousands of units of non-market housing and free public transit. Bremner-Akins, a 23-year-old political science student, who has run as a B.C. Green Party candidate in the ridings of Coquitlam-Burke Mountain and Port Coquitlam, says he’s the only leadership candidate who has run for MLA in a provincial election.He’s also held positions with the party’s provincial council, including secretary.”I’m the only person [among the leadership candidates] who’s run for MLA of this party. I’m the only person who’s put the B.C. Green label beside my name, and I’m the only person who’s held leadership positions within the party.”He says he could expand the party’s support beyond Vancouver Island.B.C. Green leadership candidate speaks to CBC News by Zoom from Gitxsan territory in northern B.C. on Aug. 6. (CBC News )”I think that has been a bit of an issue in the past, is that the party has focused centrally on the Island,” Bremner-Akins said, speaking from his home in Port Coquitlam. “Now with an MLA (Jeremy Valeriote) on the Lower Mainland and hopefully a leader from the mainland, we will be able to really expand our footprint and be present in places where we haven’t been able to get.”B.C. Green leadership candidate Adam Bremner-Akins stands with interim leader Jeremy Valeriote and a party supporter. (Adam Bremner-Akins)Bremner-Akins says the affordability crisis — including the cost of groceries, housing and basic necessities — has mobilized people who want to see change. “I can’t afford a home, and I’m worried about my future and climate change,” he said. “That’s not a youth issue. Trying to buy a home or start a family, or for a senior living on a fixed income, we’re all facing the same issues.”New leader will not have a seat in the legislature Valeriote is the interim leader, and Rob Botterell is the party’s House leader in the legislature. Neither of the two MLAs is running for the leadership. That means whoever leads the party will not have a seat in the legislature.All three candidates say that it offers a unique opportunity to tour the province and connect with grassroots members, while Valeriote and Botterell focus on question period and legislative debate. UBC political scientist Kathryn Harrison says while it’s ideal to have a leader with an elected seat, the next leader will have to focus on building their brand and name recognition ahead of the next election.”The biggest challenge for the new leader is going to be establishing their own visibility,” Harrison said. None of the three [potential] leaders has provincial prominence.”The party says the leadership race has energized its base, with 1,500 new members signing on. Aug. 10 is the deadline to sign up new members.Voting for the three leadership candidates will take place online between Sept. 13 and 23. The winner will be announced Sept. 24. ABOUT THE AUTHORKatie DeRosa is the provincial affairs reporter for CBC British Columbia. She is based in Victoria. You can contact her at katie.derosa@cbc.ca.
Meet the 3 people vying to lead the B.C. Green Party
