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PARK THAT: GROUPS ON PAID PARKING
Here’s what organizations have to say
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LIGHTS, CAMERA, LOCAL ACTION
New CBC documentary series has Squamish crew
THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2025
S Q U A M I S H C H I E F. C O M
SEA TO SKY MLA JEREMY VALERIOTE NAMED INTERIM LEADER OF B.C. GREEN PARTY
Leader Sonia Furstenau announces that she is stepping down; Valeriote won’t run for permanent leadership role CINDY E. HARNETT/ INDIGO LEMAY-CONWAY news@squamishchief.com
S
onia Furstenau is stepping down as B.C. Green Party leader three months after failing to win a seat in the fall provincial election. Green MLA Jeremy Valeriote, representing West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, will become interim leader but says he has no plans of running for the full-time position. “Taking on the role of interim leader, while I’m doing it, doesn’t preclude me, [but] I don’t have plans to run for the leadership,” Valeriote said in a BC Greens press conference on Jan. 28 “My children are still young, and I knew what I was signing up for by taking on the job of MLA and that learning curve and continuing to work for the people of West-Vancouver Sea to Sky. “But being a leader, the time commitment is not on the cards for me right now, so I’m happy to take on the role of interim, which means I won’t
AMAZING VIEWS!
ADRIAN LAM/TIMES COLONIST
MLA Jeremy Valeriote addresses questions in front of Sonia Furstenau, after she announced her plan to step down as the Leader of Green Party, on Tuesday.
be running.” Furstenau, 54, an MLA since 2017 and party leader since 2020, made the announcement at the Inn at Laurel Point in James Bay Tuesday morning. Furstenau, who had represented the riding of
Cowichan Valley before moving to Victoria for family reasons, ran in Victoria-Beacon Hill in the Oct. 19, 2024, provincial election, but lost to incumbent NDP cabinet minister Grace Lore. Just two Green MLAs were elected — newcomers Valeriote, a geological engineer and
former Gibsons councillor, and retired lawyer Rob Botterell, representing Saanich North and the Islands. However, much like Valeriote, Botterell has no GREENS: Continued on 2
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