Green Party of BC leader Sonia Furstenau addressed delegates earlier today, highlighting the role of local communities and the importance of collaborative governance as British Columbia tackles COVID-19, illicit drugs, and climate change.
Furstenau charged that “it takes a kind of arrogance to think that it is better to work alone”, and touted successful collaborations between the Greens and NDP that saw the inclusion of early childhood education in childcare plans, strengthened climate commitments, lobbying reform, and the passage of recovery funds for COVID-19. She suggested that minority governments in Canada have brought about long-lasting positive changes, and pointed towards local government tables as an example of effective collaborative governance.
Furstenau emphasized the urgent need to address climate change, noting decades of unheeded warnings by scientists, the recent evacuation of 500,000 people due to wildfires in the western United States, and the alarming regularity of temperature records being broken.
Furstenau suggested that while local governments have been effective in navigating and adapting to climate change, provincial and federal decisions have run counter to such efforts. As an example of locally driven solutions, she highlighted the UBCM Special Committee on Climate Action’s report and its proposed recommendation to build zero-emission affordable wood-frame homes and retrofit buildings to make them low carbon.
“When I look to future of what is possible for our province, I see reasons for optimism and inspiration”, Furstenau concluded, “we have been elected to serve the residents of our communities in the best ways that we can, by collaborating, by being respectful of those around us, by engaging deeply in our work, and by advancing the evidence-based solutions put forward by communities, instead of our partisan interests.”