Sonia Furstenau would create a resilience strategy for the province, her leadership campaign announced in late July, as she prepares for the election to decide who will lead the BC Green Party.
The MLA for Cowichan Valley faces two challengers in her bid to replace former party leader Andrew Weaver. Her oppenents are Cam Brewer and Kim Darwin.
Furstenau’s platform focused on improving the resilience of B.C. communities and natural resources.
“COVID-19 has underscored the need to make our province more resilient in the face of crisis and change,” said Furstenau.
“This plan takes proactive steps to strengthen our province amidst challenges like climate change and an uncertain global economy. We need to take decisive action to ensure every community in B.C. has access to clean drinking water, basic food security and adequate emergency resources. We must also ensure that the benefits of B.C.’s natural resources flow to our local communities in a fair, equitable manner.”
Furstenau’s platform includes the following policies:
Create a Resilient B.C. Strategy to:
• Protect communities from wildfires and flooding through landscape level, ecologically-centred, forest treatment projects.
• Build capacity in communities at risk of extreme weather events and natural disasters and to support effective disaster response and recovery.
• Diversify fuel sources in rural communities to assist with transition off of diesel generators to clean tech through a lease to own clean tech transition program.
• Create jobs throughout the province by investing in ecological and biodiversity protection programs.
• Recognize that access to clean water is a human right and ensure B.C. communities have long-term, reliable and equitable access to clean water.
• Create a Food Secure B.C. strategy to make B.C. agriculture more climate resilient, improve local food security and support agricultural producers.
• Consult with industry, labour and stakeholders to ensure B.C. resources benefit communities, with the ultimate aim of sharing resource revenues with local First Nations, municipalities, and regional districts.
• Further investment in value-added wood based industries through research funding and access to fibre.
• Involve First Nations, municipalities, and regional districts as partners in a broader area-based land use planning process.
• Explore policies to increase community forests lands.
• Immediately halt logging of old-growth forests that are at critically low levels.
