Media releases

VICTORIA, B.C. - This fall legislative session demonstrated the critical need for the B.C. Greens to hold the government accountable on key issues such as housing, climate, and family welfare. There is growing concern over the B.C. NDP’s lack of transparency, manipulative legislative tactics, and erosion of democracy.

“For the third straight session the B.C. NDP shut down debate and withheld information on bills that transform our communities. They are actively preventing opposition MLAs from doing the important job of critiquing the new laws,” said Sonia Furstenau, Leader of the B.C. Greens and MLA for Cowichan Valley. 

VICTORIA, B.C. - As world leaders gather at COP28 to strategize about reducing emissions to stave off the worst impacts of climate change, the B.C. Green Caucus is calling on the BC NDP to ban fossil fuel advertising here in British Columbia.

Every year a staggering 8.7 million people die from air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels. The climate crisis, and its impact on human health, will continue to worsen unless we take immediate action. One necessary step is to ban fossil fuel advertising. Just as tobacco advertising was banned because of its impacts to human health, it’s time to ban fossil fuel advertising. 

VICTORIA, B.C. – Today, Finance Minister Katrine Conroy gave a fiscal and economic update on the province’s second quarterly report followed by the Auditor General’s release of the Summary Financial Statements Audit. Sonia Furstenau, Leader of the B.C. Greens and MLA for Cowichan has issued the following statement:

“It is difficult to have confidence in a government that does not effectively manage its financial affairs. Each year, this government announces unexpected surpluses, and yet we have seen a steady decline in basic government services. People in B.C. can’t count on health care when they need it, students continue to attend school in portables, and the social safety net is in tatters.  

VICTORIA, B.C. - The B.C. Green Caucus is calling for a fundamental shift in the foster care system, advocating for direct family support as the primary approach.

“The Ministry continues removing children from homes due to poverty-related social conditions, and failing to provide the care and services they need,” said Sonia Furstenau, Leader of the B.C. Greens and MLA For Cowichan Valley. “Children suffer from inadequate housing, food, and medical care while their parents struggle. The Ministry's role should be to support these families, yet often assistance arrives too late or not at all due to budget constraints and narrow definitions of need.”

VICTORIA, B.C. - The B.C. Green Caucus is calling on the provincial government to significantly ramp up investments in non-market housing including co-op, non-profit, government-run, and supportive housing, to address British Columbia's escalating housing affordability crisis. 

"This unprecedented crisis demands the necessary amount of housing, not just an increase,” said Sonia Furstenau, Leader of the B.C. Greens and MLA for Cowichan Valley. ”British Columbians deserve the truth behind the numbers - how much affordable housing by when? This should be tracked and reported.