Sonia Furstenau steps down as leader of the BC Greens

To a room full of reporters, colleagues, staff, and supporters, Furstenau bid a heartfelt goodbye to provincial politics on Tuesday.

Furstenau entered the political arena amid a years-long battle to protect clean drinking water in Shawnigan Lake after a landfill there received a permit in 2013 to store tonnes of contaminated soil. She was elected as MLA for Cowichan Valley in 2017, a pivotal year for the BC Greens in which she and Adam Olsen (Saanich North and the Gulf Islands) won seats in the legislature and collected 16.84% of the popular vote.

During her time as a politician, she was often referred to in the media as the “relentless underdog.” She told the room jokingly, “It’s not easy being Green.”

Throughout her tenure, Furstenau was vocal on several key issues, including advocating for the protection of BC’s old-growth forests, addressing housing affordability, and pushing for a green recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her background in environmental issues, including a master’s degree in environmental law, bolstered her credibility as a policymaker in that domain.

During the announcement, she revealed that she had never really aspired to be an elected official. It was her late father Peter Furstenau, she said, who encouraged her to believe that she could do anything she put her mind to.

She also revealed she knew, going into the 2024 election that had she won in her riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill, she would not have remained party leader. She was defeated by NDP incumbent Grace Lore who announced in December that she would be stepping away from her cabinet role as minister responsible for children and family development due to illness.

Replaced Weaver when he left

Furstenau was elected leader of the BC Green Party in 2020, after the contentious resignation of former leader Andrew Weaver. Under her leadership, the BC Greens positioned themselves as the “buffer” party focused on the long-term well-being of the province, advocating in their 2024 platform, for inclusive policies on housing, healthcare, education, and economic transformation.

Furstenau’s leadership emphasized cross-party collaboration and transparency. “Our team was part of a significant change in banning big money in politics, lobbying reforms, and greater transparency so we can now know who is meeting with government officials and how often,” she said.

She made it consistently clear during the recent election that she wanted to stay away from acrimonious partisan politics.

“I believe that collaboration across party lines that this agreement [with the BC NDP] puts back into place, will mean better outcomes for people in BC,” she said.

She told those gathered in the ballroom at the Inn on Laurel Point that politics “doesn't have to be a binary choice, a winner-take-all world” and encouraged her legislative colleagues to look for friendships in unexpected places.

Neither Green MLA will be taking over

Neither Rob Botterell nor interim leader Jeremy Valeriote—the only two Greens to win ridings in last November’s provincial election—will run for leadership of the party. Valeriote cited the age of his young children and Botterell, the challenge of being house leader as well as a new MLA for declining a run for the leadership.

When challenged on not having a sitting leader in the legislature, Furstenau pointed to NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi in Alberta who also doesn’t have a seat.

Furstenau was asked what she considered some of the highlights of her political journey. She noted the 100-hectare Old Blady Mountain parkland acquisition and the Shawnigan Lake timber-framed pavilion for the village as some of her greatest accomplishments. She said she was also proud to have advocated for the new Quw'utsun secondary school opening next week, the new $1.4B regional hospital slated to open at 6775 Bell McKinnon Road in North Cowichan in two years, and the funding announced in the 2024 provincial budget for the Cowichan Lake weir to preserve water levels on the drought-threatened water source.

The weir project had been something she’d been fighting for alongside the Cowichan Tribes since 2018. It’s expected to be built within the next two years.“We created the Cowichan community of caring, which informed my advocacy for changes to the child welfare system, and most important for restoring Indigenous jurisdiction to their children. “I’m immensely proud of what’s been achieved in Cowichan,” Furstenau said.

She said she considers the two-party mutual commitment she negotiated in the accord to investing in community health centres (CHCs) and mental health—the NDP said it would invest $50M to expand public coverage of psychologists—reliable regional transit, and finding proven solutions to homelessness as solid political wins.

While Furstenau will no longer be involved directly in politics she said “she’ll be the nice Auntie who brings fresh focaccia and offers advice and guidance to anybody who asks for it.”

Reaction has been positive, supportive

Deputy BC Green party Leader Lisa Gunderson told Capital Daily she felt good about the announcement because Furstenau has made sure things are on a solid foundation. “Jeremy and Rob have got their sea legs now and I also know that, internally, we have people around the province who are ready to step up and she has left a great model of how to do that.”

David Slade, a resident of Cobble Hill and a member of the Cowichan Watershed Board who fought alongside Furstenau during the water debacle there, told Capital Daily, “I’m scared for the future of the Greens because it would have been nice if Sonia could have cloned another Sonia.”

But he’s also optimistic.

“There is probably another person out there with her level of dedication, charisma, and skill in being a politician that can set their anger and frustration aside and work across party lines, which is a gift she has. If there is, I’ll be ready to get back out there and work again.”

Alastair Cierighead, a BC Green supporter since 2011, told Capital Daily, “It’s sad but it was a good time for a leader to leave. She’s left the party in good shape for people to build on.”

For many, Furstenau is a role model, and she is cognisant of that.

“It's also been important to me to try to be a model, a mentor, and maybe even an inspiration to young people, an extension of my former goal as a teacher,” she said.

“I considered it part of my public service to meet students,” said Furstenau who figures she invited more than 800 young people to the legislature to shadow her for part of her day throughout her time in politics.

At the end of her address, Furstenau thanked her campaign managers, former candidates, and volunteers as well as what she called her “found family.” She most movingly thanked her children, stepchildren, and her husband Blaise Salmon.

“We have a hard road ahead of us in politics and democracy,” she said as she signed off from the podium.

“There are growing threats to democracies in the United States, across Europe, and here in Canada. Each of us has a role to play in protecting each other and protecting our democracy.  Love conquers all," she said.