MLA Sonia Furstenau has been elected by her party as the brand new leader of the BC Green Party.
Furstenau won an in depth leadership race totaling 2,428 votes on the second ballot to defeat Cam Brewer. Brewer received 2,127 votes.
On the primary ballot Fustenau received 2,197 votes, Brewer got 1,916 votes and Kim Darwin received 521 votes. Nobody received enough votes to win on the primary ballot.
The party announced 85 per cent of eligible voters solid their ballots in the course of the leadership contest.
The leader was originally alleged to be chosen in June but was pushed back as a consequence of COVID-19.
The Greens have struggled to get attention for the leadership race as a consequence of the continuing pandemic.
Furstenau is now expected to be thrust straight into an election campaign. Premier John Horgan is anticipated to call a fall election if COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases don’t get to the purpose where they are not any longer manageable.
“The political structures we have now in place reinforce hyper-partisanship, perpetuating the parable that that is ‘just how politics is finished’. These past few weeks, this sort of politics has reared its head again, because the spectre of a totally unnecessary, irresponsible early election in the course of a pandemic is being contemplated just because it’d profit one party’s political fortunes,” Furstenau said during her acceptance speech.
“I say to John Horgan, you’ve a responsibility to manipulate, not play politics.”
Furstenau says if the NDP triggered an early election it might achieve this in the course of the midst of two overlapping health emergenciesm while kids are navigating a completely recent way of being at school, and covid-19 cases are rising.
“This is just not the time to dissolve government, to go away a province leaderless for over a month in hopes of securing more power for yourself – it is a time when we’d like our Ministers of Health and Education to be working alongside our Public Health Officer to do all they’ll to guard the health and well being of the people of BC,” Furstenau said.
“Don’t succumb to the old ways of doing politics on this recent and altered world. As a substitute rise above partisanship and put the people you serve ahead of your party’s self-interest.”
The BC Greens won three ridings in 2017 and held the balance of power. Furstenau was a part of the team of Greens who negotiated with each the BC Liberals and the BC NDP before ultimately deciding to support Premier John Horgan.
One in all Furstenau’s campaign guarantees is a 4 day work week. Furstenau is proposing conversations with businesses and labour organization to shorten the work week for full-time staff in an try to improve work-life balance.
