Newly elected BC Green Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Rob Botterell and Jeremy Valeriote round off the legislature like special teams in the Canadian Football League.
Playing neither offence or defence in a parliamentary battlefield consisting of 47 NDP and 44 Conservation MLAs, the BC Greens are the third-party duo British Columbians can look to for shaping the game.
“I’m willing to work with anybody who has good ideas, solid principals and wants the best for British Columbia and British Columbians. I’ll definitely be working with all the MLAs. I truly believe that all 93 MLAs should be working together. That’s the way I’ll want to do the job,” said Valeriote, the West Vancouver-Sea to Sky MLA and a geological engineer who made history when he became the first provincial Green Party member to be elected in the Lower Mainland.
Valeriote says the Greens are “breaking the mold” of what a political party is and vowed to bring forward new ideas while holding both NDP and Conservatives accountable.
“We really have no business building new fossil fuel infrastructure in the middle of a climate emergency,” Valeriote said. “This is the not the direction we need to go. We need to invest in renewable energy and the energy transition that everybody knows is coming. I would say the four-year blip in U.S. might give us an opportunity to invest where others aren’t investing,”
Sonia Furstenau, Green Party of BC leader and former MLA for Cowichan Valley from 2017 to 2024, weighs in.
“We have a lot of good ideas in our platform and we'll be continuing to push the government to look at them, especially on health care, affordability and climate change. We will also continue to provide constructive criticism and feedback on government legislation and look for opportunities to introduce our own legislation,” she told the Ha-shilth-sa in an email.
“One of the most critical roles we play as a third party is making sure we don't revert to the polarized, two-party system as we see in the United States,” Furstenau continued. “The BC Greens will work to hold everyone in the building to a higher standard so our Legislature can be a place for substantive debate on ideas rather than toxic political games."
When it comes to reconciliation, Botterell, the Green MLA elect for Saanich North and the Islands, has a long history of working with First Nations governments in private law, including representing the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) in lawsuits.
“He knows us. He understands the issues,” said NTC president Judith Sayers. “The Greens have been a main voice for so many things.”
Tsartlip First Nation member Adam Olsen was a Green MLA for Saanich North and the Islands from 2017 to 2024. He says the previous NDP government took an important step towards recognizing Indigenous rights in B.C. by passing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).
“This was a historic milestone, signalling an intent to align provincial laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP),” said Olsen in an email.
“However, intent is not the same as action. The implementation of DRIPA has often been slow and uneven, and there have been instances where the government has failed to uphold its commitments, particularly in the areas of meaningful consultation and consent,” he said.
Sayers re-iterates.
“I recognize that they have to represent everybody’s interest, but I think consultation and accommodation are kind of old school and we need to move to free, prior, and informed consent,” she said. “I think there is progress that can still be made. Joint management, shared management… the mechanisms that are in the legislation are onerous and they need to be changed so we can do it more easily.”
Olsen suggests that developments like the Haida Nation’s ‘Rising Tide’ title agreement, which he says established certainty through recognition rather than litigation, should serve as a model.
“The BC Greens believe this framework—grounded in true partnership and reconciliation—is the way forward,” said Olsen.
“The work ahead is significant, but with leaders like Rob Botterell and Jeremy Valeriote in the legislature, the BC Greens will continue to amplify Indigenous voices, hold the government to its promises, and work toward a future where reconciliation is not just a buzzword but a lived reality,” he said.
Sayers wonders why the Haida Title Act hasn’t been done for every single First Nation.
Olsen and Furstenau tabled several key private member bills during their time as BC Green Party MLAs.
In 2023, Furstenau tabled legislation to prohibit the use of NDAs in cases of harassment and discrimination, aiming to prevent their misuse in silencing victims. In that same year Olsen put forward the ‘Repeal of the $10 Freedom of Information (FOI) Application Fee’ to eliminate the $10 charge imposed on FOI requests, advocating for greater transparency and public access to information.
Olsen also introduced legislation in 2022 to protect bear dens, which serve as critical habitats for hibernation and rearing cubs, from destruction due to logging activities.
While an exact date has yet to be announced, the first formal session of the 43rd B.C. Parliament will likely be in mid-February.
