By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer
The BC Greens are slated to elect new leadership this month. After losing her seat in the provincial election in October 2024, former party head Sonia Furstenau stepped down in January 2025. Now, three candidates are vying for the position. Adam Bremner-Akins, Jonathan Kerr, and Emily Lowan will appear on the ballot from September 13–23. The Peak spoke with the three contenders for more information on their outlooks and campaigns.
Bremner-Akins
Bremner-Akins has rooted his political movement around four key tenets — affordability, climate, mobility, and health. “The main focus of my campaign has been dealing with my frustrations on how the province is being handled, and that is cost of living, and that’s lack of environmental action, and on housing affordability, healthcare, and transit,” he said. “I have lived experience with all of these, and as an SFU student who cannot afford to live in the community that I grew up in, or frankly anywhere out in the lower mainland, I really felt motivated to put myself forward.”
The SFU political science student in his early 20s explained that he has run before: “I’ve run twice for MLA with the BC Greens, and I’m the only candidate who has held internal leadership positions. I was the party’s counsellor at large for three years, and then I was the party secretary for another year after that.
“I really come with the background of knowing the organizations and understanding what the Greens have been doing for the last five/six years, and I want to continue that, but I also want to bring bold new policy,” he expressed. According to his campaign site, such policies include a four-day work week, a windfall tax for gas and oil, making public transit for ages 0–19 free, and more.
When it comes to problems facing British Columbians, the Greens are not looking to “band-aid issues,” Bremner-Akins said. “We’re looking to fundamentally fix them, work from the ground up to ensure that we have systems that are sustainable and work for people.”
Kerr
Kerr’s platform revolves around climate, reconciliation, health, sustainable economy, and more. The candidate is a family doctor and draws motivation for leadership from his own children: “I really want to make sure that they have a future [with a]great quality of life, that’s affordable, and that the planet’s still around,” he expressed.
The Greens will always “have the best platform for the planet,” Kerr said. “But we’re also going to have the best platform for other really important issues like affordable housing, cost of living, the economy,” and “creating well-paying jobs in our province.” In addition to focusing on the environment, he explained that appealing to voters as “the job party, economy party, housing party,” and “healthcare [party]” would help the Greens win more seats in the next election.
For the current leadership race, Kerr wants to provide added support for the Youth Climate Corp, build on the BC First Nations Zero Waste Program in rural areas, create more accessible rental housing, and more. He has twice represented the Green Party in the Comox district as a city councillor. He also serves as the vice chair of the regional district, working on issues like sewer, water, recreation, and transit. “We’re going to really have to have someone that has a track record of speaking with ministers on a regular basis, like I do in my role as a regional director and vice chair,” Kerr said, noting this as the main difference between him and other candidates.
“Who sets us up with a better chance to win, who sets us up with a better chance to have real credibility with the electorate? And at this point, given the three of us, I think that I’d be the best choice going into the next election.”
Lowan
Lowan has built a campaign around the slogan “fight the oligarchs, fund our future.” “We’re building a people-powered movement to force our government to directly confront corporate interests — so we can invest in a future that works for everyone,” she told The Peak. “We need to tax billionaires out of existence, to have a healthy democracy, planet, and society.”
On a policy level, this looks like incorporating “corporate and individual tax increases on BC’s richest corporations and the 1%,” as well as banning “data centers in BC from burning fossil fuels for power, in order to reduce climate pollution, protect air quality, and public health in BC communities.” Lowan’s platform additionally centres Indigenous rights, climate action, solidarity with Palestine, and more.
“I have a decade of experience as a climate organizer and policy researcher,” Lowan added, in her early 20s. “I’ve worked as a strategist at Canada’s leading coalition organization, Climate Action Network Canada, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Corporate Mapping Project.” Lowan also noted that she has received campaign endorsements from Dr. Gabor Maté, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, and activists Severn Cullis-Suzuki and Tzeporah Berman.
“One candidate, Jonathan Kerr, believes that the BC Greens should court the centre to gain more seats,” Lowan also claimed. “This is a complete misread of our potential and pathway to regain relevance. Any seasoned politician will tell you that the centre belongs to the party in power — the BC NDP. The centre is satisfied with the status quo.” She expressed, “While others are fighting over a shrinking slice of pie, we’re (Lowan’s team) expanding that pie with droves of youth and disillusioned non-voters across the province.”
Why should students care about the Greens?
In separate conversations, both Kerr and Bremner-Akins expressed that they believe the Greens are the only party truly looking forward. “The Green Party, for me as a student, was the only one that was being genuine about wanting to improve living conditions for us,” Bremner-Akins said.
For Kerr, “there’s only one party that’s talking about the future.”
“We are creating a campaign in our own image: one made of renters, young people, and the disaffected,” Lowan said. “There are 726,000 people between the ages of 20–30 in BC. The BC NDP only won with 900,000 votes in the last election, our generation could truly turn the tide.”
Those who were registered Green Party members on August 10, 2025, and who have verified their identity will receive a ballot.