Furstenau to stay on as BC Greens leader

Sonia Furstenau will stay on as the leader of the BC Green Party even though she won’t be an MLA.

Furstenau lost the race in Victoria-Beacon Hill on Saturday to the NDP’s Grace Lore.

Elections BC’s preliminary count shows Lore garnered 12,715 votes in the riding, while Furstenau received just 9,027.

Furstenau made the move to the new riding after serving as the MLA in Cowichan Valley since 2017.

“British Columbians demonstrated that they don’t trust any one party with 100 per cent of the power,” she said.

“They need our next government to leave the negativity and toxicity of the campaign behind, get down to work and start delivering for them.”

Barring any change in the final count, which is set to start on Saturday, the BC Greens will have two seats in the legislature, held by new MLAs Jeremy Valeriote in West Vanouver-Sea to Sky and Rob Botterell in Saanich North and the Islands.

“We’re glad to have Sonia’s strong leadership as we take on our new jobs as MLAs and navigate the prospect of having the balance of power in the legislature,” the two said in a written statement.

“We are honoured that our constituents voted to send a BC Green Caucus to Victoria and we are ready to hit the ground running for them.”