Green Party

GREEN PARTY, BC, is the provincial wing of the national Green Party of Canada. Founded in 1983, the BC Green Party is part of a network of Green Parties around the world. Since receiving .19% of the popular vote in the 1983 provincial election, the party has expanded its support: it got 9.1% in the 2005 election, though it still failed to elect its first MLA. The party was led by Stuart Parker until 2000, when a group of environmental activists ousted him at a party annual meeting and forced a leadership race, won by Adriane Carr. In the 2013 provincial election, under new leader Jane Sterk, the party received just 8.1% of the vote but elected its first MLA, Andrew Weaver, in a Victoria-area riding. Since 1990 the BC Greens have elected several candidates in municipal elections. A coalition of environmentalists and social justice activists, the party advocates the introduction of a proportional representation system of elections and supports policies that encourage sustainable economic growth. It made a major breakthrough in the 2017 provincial election when, under Weaver's leadership, the party elected 3 MLAs and agreed to support the NDP in a governing coalition. Weaver subsequently resigned as leader and the Greens lost their pivotal position in October 2020 when NDP Premier John Horgan called a sudden election and won a substantial majority, no longer needing the support of Green MLAs to govern. Still, the Greens, under new leader Sonia Furstenau, retained 3 seats in the legislature. See also ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT.