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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tB.C. Green Leader Emily Lowan following a media availability in Victoria, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Kevin Light<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a young person, I saw how deeply these ecosystems are under threat,\u201d she said in an interview.<\/p>\n
Ever since, Lowan said she has been on a mission to challenge what she described as \u201cthe politicians and the corporate forces that are threatening our democracy and a livable future on this planet\u201d and put power in the hands of communities.<\/p>\n
Lowan played a key role in a student-led campaign that pressured the University of Victoria into directing its investments away from fossil fuels, before climate advocacy with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Climate Action Network Canada.<\/p>\n
She won the Greens\u2019 leadership contest last year, succeeding Sonia Furstenau.<\/p>\n
Lowan said she recognizes why climate action isn\u2019t top of mind for many voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have a really hard time thinking about climate when they don\u2019t have their basic needs met, and so I want to do both,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to take climate action and deliver that affordable life for regular people with, you know, a guarantee on good, green jobs, with universal child care and social housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lauren Latour was Lowan\u2019s manager while she worked at Climate Action Network Canada between 2023 and 2025, co-ordinating efforts among non-profit and Indigenous groups while pushing for phasing out the extraction of fossil fuels.<\/p>\n
Latour said Lowan has a \u201cpositive magnetism\u201d that served her well in her bridge-building role with the network, along with her knowledge of climate policy in Canada and experience with organizing at the community level.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s incredibly audacious. She\u2019s not afraid to be bold in her campaign ideas and in her dreams and aspirations for her (work),\u201d Latour said.<\/p>\n
Outgoing Green legislator Rob Botterell, too, said Lowan has a clear vision for bringing young people into politics and pushing for \u201cbold, courageous change\u201d to tackle climate change, affordability and health-care challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere is the leader of the future,\u201d Botterell said of his first impression of Lowan.<\/p>\n
Botterell had always intended to serve one term after winning in Saanich North and the Islands in 2024, becoming one half of a two-member Green caucus along with Jeremy Valeriote, who is seeking re-election in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.<\/p>\n
The retired lawyer said he \u201cwould have loved to carry on for the next couple of years\u201d in the legislature and directed his ire at NDP Leader David Eby for \u201ccalling a completely unnecessary election\u201d with two years left in the government\u2019s term.<\/p>\n
But Botterell said he was \u201cthrilled\u201d Lowan is running in Saanich North, where he fondly recalled knocking on doors alongside her and \u201cwatching constituents\u2019 eyes light up when they recognize her and just seeing how well they connect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Botterell said Lowan is a leader beyond her years, and \u201csomebody that you can trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowan\u2019s campaign in Saanich North is a family affair, with her grandmother \u2014 who previously ran a children\u2019s book shore in Sidney, B.C. \u2014 dropping off signage materials at her office shortly before she spoke to The Canadian Press.<\/p>\n
Lowan said her grandparents worked blue-collar jobs and opened a small business, enough to buy a home and provide generational wealth for the family.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is just not the reality for my generation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve spent my whole adult life watching establishment parties manage decline as the lives of young and working people get harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowan said people have \u201clost trust in a political class\u201d across B.C.\u2019s major parties, whose politicians have \u201cbought in and sold out\u201d to corporate interests.<\/p>\n
But the Greens offer a different vision, she said, one that centres on young people, workers, renters and \u201ceveryone else who is being crushed by the status quo in B.C.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowan said the province has a revenue problem, allowing major corporations to walk away with billions of dollars in what she described as \u201ccorporate welfare.\u201d<\/p>\n
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She said the Greens\u2019 platform will outline how to find the money required to fund affordable housing, child care and health care, including taxing the ultra-wealthy, while building up the economy to be more independent and resilient to shocks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need leadership that isn\u2019t corrupted by the system,\u201d Lowan said. \u201cWe need young leaders with bold ideas and real hope to bring back half the population who has stopped voting, who has given up and tuned out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowan has said the two Greens had made a difference in the legislature and the snap election offered a path to growing and holding the balance of power.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can hold the government to account and get real results to make our province safer, healthier and more democratic,\u201d she told a campaign event last month.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Emily Lowan was in her late teens, not so long ago, she would pedal around Victoria collecting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":932649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-932648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=932648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/932649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=932648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=932648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=932648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}