Cowichan Valley MLA Sonia Furstenau has been elected leader of the BC Green party.
The party announced this morning that she was selected over two other candidates by party members in a mail-in vote held this month.
Furstenau replaces Oak Bay-Gordon Head MLA Andrew Weaver, who had down as leader and announced he would not run for re-election.
A graduate of the University of Victoria, she was a high school teacher in Victoria and Shawnigan Lake before getting into politics following a provincial decision to allow a contaminated soil disposal site near Shawnigan Lake.
In 2014, she was elected to the board of the Cowichan Valley Regional District.
Then in 2017, Furstenau was elected as the Green Party MLA in Cowichan Valley.
As an MLA, she has served as the lead spokesperson for seven different government files.
She has worked to make changes to the child welfare system, reforms to environmental legislation, and childcare and early childhood education programs.
Furstenau lives in the Cowichan Valley with her husband Blaise and their children.
