The leader of the B.C. Greens says she talked with B.C. NDP Leader David Eby on Wednesday morning but has not returned a call from B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad.
“Both David Eby and John Rustad have reached out,” Sonia Furstenau said at a news conference. “I had a conversation with David Eby this morning.”
If the initial Oct. 19 seat count stands — 46 for the NDP, 45 for the Conservatives and two for the Greens — the Greens could hold the balance of power in the 93-seat legislature. A majority requires at least 47 seats.
On Wednesday, Furstenau didn’t rule out working with the Conservatives, but made it clear she’s not impressed with Rustad’s leadership so far.
Furstenau said some of the elected Conservative candidates have said “truly disturbing, racist, dehumanizing, homophobic and conspiratorial” things and she has yet to hear a “satisfactory response” to those comments from Rustad.
Asked about a possible deal with the Conservatives, Furstenau said it’s up to Rustad “to demonstrate what kind of leadership he has at this point, and he has not been responding to, I think, very direct questions about things that his candidates have said.”
Furstenau said MLAs need to hold themselves to a high standard and to see themselves as representatives for everyone in their communities. She also expressed concern about Rustad’s comments on climate change — when he was a B.C. Liberal MLA, Rustad was fired in 2022 by then B.C. Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon for questioning the role of CO2 in climate change.
Furstenau declined to elaborate on what she talked to Eby about, but said the starting point for anything the Greens would want in possible discussions next week is in the B.C. Greens’ platform.
“I’m not going to talk about anything specific until the vote tallies are in, and the conversations that we have will be focused on ensuring that we are getting meaningful and important outcomes for British Columbians,” she said.
The Greens’ platform pledges to increase the carbon tax, something both Eby and Rustad have said they would scrap.
Furstenau wouldn’t elaborate on what type of a power-sharing agreement she would consider — whether it would be a coalition with a cabinet seat or a confidence and supply agreement similar to the one the party had with the NDP from 2017 to 2020, or simply providing support on a vote-by-vote basis.
“We’re waiting for the final vote to come in and we’ll be engaging in conversations after that,” said Furstenau.
The two-term former Cowichan Valley MLA announced Tuesday she will remain leader despite losing her bid for a seat in Victoria-Beacon Hill.
“Right now in B.C., no party deserves all the power based on preliminary [election] results,” said Furstenau.
“It looks like the people of B.C. have made it clear they lack full confidence in either of the other two parties.”
She said she doesn’t regret running in the city her family is from, in which she lived for 20 years, and where her first grandchild will be born. She said also she doesn’t take it personally that the NDP broke the first power-sharing agreement after three years.
Until the final vote count is released, Furstenau said she’s focused on the party’s two new MLAs.
Saanich North and the Islands MLA-elect Rob Botterell and West Vancouver-Sea to Sky MLA-elect Jeremy Valeriote, who both won decisive victories on election night, stood alongside the Green leader on Wednesday.
“It’s really a huge benefit to have Sonia as our leader, staying and mentoring us and leading us as we work through applying the framework, which is a fabulous platform,” said Botterell, 68, who grew up in Oak Bay and now lives on Pender Island.
Botterell said he worked as a regional comptroller for TD Bank and was later promoted to Toronto “and saw the error of my ways and moved back to Victoria.”
He returned to school to study law at the University of Victoria, worked in the B.C. Ministry of Finance and led a team that drafted the province’s freedom of information legislation.
Botterell then practised law for more than 20 years, negotiating key provisions of the Maa-nulth Treaty for Huu-ay-aht. He said he has negotiated with all levels of government and industry on major projects.
“My passion is social justice and protecting the environment but at the same time I’m a fiscal conservative, so my background in banking and finance sees that I like to do things in a fiscally prudent way,” said Botterell, who retired in December and decided to run for office when departing Saanich North and the Islands MLA Adam Olsen said he would not seek re-election.
Jeremy Valeriote, 50, who lives in Whistler, is a geological engineer who worked for more than two decades as an environmental consultant in mining, environmental management and impact assessment.
Valeriote has consulted for local government, served on Gibsons town council for one four-year term until 2018, and worked in the mayor’s office in Squamish from 2021 to 2023.
He describes himself as a grounded, analytical, patient person who believes in changing systems and personal growth in harmony with the natural environment.
Valeriote came within 60 votes of winning West Vancouver-Sea to Sky in the last provincial election.
This time around, acknowledging the pressure facing the two newly elected B.C. Greens, Valeriote said there’s lots of work to prepare for their roles but both “are ready to get started.”
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