Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The BC Green Party has a new leader — 25-year-old Emily Lowan. Lowan cast her win as a generational transformation based on energy and optimism that will reshape politics in the province. 

At the announcement event on Wednesday, Lowan described her campaign as a “lightning rod of hope.” The climate advocate and organizer from Victoria won the leadership by a landslide, dominating the first ballot with 3,189 votes, followed by Jonathan Kerr with 1,908, and Adam Bremner-Akins trailing with 128 votes. 

Lowan pledged to translate her campaign’s surge in youth memberships into effective grassroots organizing founded in respect for the planet and Indigenous rights. 

Reserving a good chunk of her first speech to skewer the NDP, Lowan accused the government of lacking vision, being driven by fear and corporate interests, and “doubling down on oil and gas” and the export of raw resources at the expense of the climate and working class, instead of focusing on provincial manufacturing and innovation. 

“We live next door to a growing authoritarian political movement funded by billionaires who exploit their workers and abuse the planet we call home,” she said. 

“And where is David Eby this week? He was in New York rolling out the red carpet for Donald Trump’s inner circle of American oligarchs to buy and control even more of our province. And why? Because that is the extent of his political imagination.”

The Greens’ opposition to what they describe as the NDP’s continued rightward shift is about to get more pointed despite the standing agreement between the two parties on shared priorities crafted after the election, Lowan said in an interview with Canada’s National Observer. 

“I think we need a bold leader who is willing to call it like it is, and galvanize the many progressive voters who feel abandoned by the BC NDP,” Lowan said. 

Some of the first orders of business will be to renegotiate the agreement between the two parties that lays out how the Greens support the NDP government, to achieve tax reforms, implement non-market housing at scale and expand transit, Lowan said. She plans to also push for vacancy-control protections for renters and advocate for proportional representation for a fairer electoral system. 

However, BC Greens face an uphill battle in a political landscape where economic fears aggravated by US President Donald Trump continue to drive voter polarization and binary support to the main parties in the province, said Stewart Prest, a political scientist at the University of British Columbia. 

The Greens struggled to gain traction as a third party in the last provincial election, as supporters bled off to the BC NDP or Conservatives in what amounted to a neck-and-neck two party race. Former party leader Sonia Furstenau lost her seat in the Legislature after a failed run in the Victoria-Beacon Hill riding. Regardless, two Greens got elected in October: former interim leader Jeremy Valeriote, MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky and Rob Botterell in Saanich North and the Islands. 

Not much has changed since the last election, Prest said, noting most voters are still prioritizing economic, health and affordability concerns over climate issues and largely dividing their support among the two main parties. The new party leader needs to articulate a compelling vision for the party — beyond environmental advocacy — and appeal to a broader base of voters, he said. 

Lowan highlighted key non-environmental issues — the party agenda will focus on building a clean economy, renewable energy and green jobs and “real” taxation of corporations and the ultra-wealthy to address the climate, housing and affordability crisis and rebuild health care, she said. 

There is a window of opportunity for the Greens, said Prest. The NDP and Premier David Eby’s popularity is waning — he is currently tied for second-lowest approval among premiers with Ontario Premier Doug Ford. The BC Conservatives also just finished a recent messy leadership review that left John Rustad with only lukewarm support and ongoing, deep party divisions that also saw Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Elenore Sturko kicked out of the BC Conservative caucus this week. 

“The NDP is long in the tooth as a government, and there are more than a few previous NDP voters who were really frustrated with the direction of the party and the limited steps it’s taken up, particularly on environmental issues,” Prest said. 

The party shouldn’t be focused on projecting itself as a “governing alternative,” but leveraging its comparative strengths to grow its base and political power, he said. 

“Rather than trying to win over the province, they’d do well to show they can win five or six seats.”

However, as wider political uncertainty continues, the Greens remain disadvantaged. 

“Most voters want to choose between a party they can tolerate and can’t tolerate, so that leaves little space for a third party” Prest said. 

Lowan is undeterred. 

“BC Green membership saw unprecedented growth, with thousands of new members and nearly a tenfold increase of youth membership under the age of 30, and that is a force to reckon with,” Lowan said in her speech. 

“We punched through despair, through apathy and cracked open a beaming window of possibility.” 

Top image credit: New BC Green Party Leader Emily Lowan says the NDP is going to face “sharper” opposition moving forward. – Submitted photo BC Green Party.

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