The Martlet’s brief guide to candidates and key issues
Images via bcgreens.ca.
On Sept. 13, 2025, the three candidates running for leader of the BC Green Party — Emily Lowan, Jonathan Kerr, and Adam Bremner-Akins — entered the debate stage. The Green Party leadership race has drawn in 3 700 new members.
BC Greens members who are registered to vote will have received an emailed ballot at 8 p.m. PDT on Sept. 13, 2025. The leadership race will use a ranked ballot, meaning you can order the three candidates based on your preference. One will be your top preference, and three your least. A “none of the above” option is also available.
Voting remains open until Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 11:59p.m., and results will be announced on Wednesday, Sept. 24.
Jonathan Kerr
Kerr said he will always stand up to old-growth logging, fracking, and pipelines. Fiscally, he has committed to bringing a fully costed platform — meaning all potential costs of the platform are accounted for — to the party for the next provincial election, so the province can be sure of the party’s ability to deliver on their promises.
He believes in a wealth redistribution of the province — taxing wealthy corporations and wealthy individuals at a higher rate in order to deliver on his promises.
Kerr has committed to capitalizing on the decreasing BC NDP popularity by recruiting a team of “all-star” candidates for the party. He has received endorsements from former party leaders, such as Adriane Carr and Jane Sterk.
Kerr says his top priorities are tackling the cost of living, housing, healthcare, achieving proportional representation, and the environment.
Adam Bremner-Akins
Bremner-Akins is a political science student at Simon Fraser University. He has spent the last eight years working within the BC Green Party, first getting involved during high school, and he later went on to run as the BC Greens candidate for Coquitlam-Burke Mountain in 2020.
While in the party, he said he successfully passed bylaws to put a youth representative in the party’s council to ensure youth voices are heard. Bremner-Akins also said he has experience as the BC Greens member in charge of holding multiple members of Eby’s cabinet accountable.
Fiscally, Bremner-Akins claimed he worked on the provincial counsel team that saw consecutive record fundraising years for the party. He also claimed he can save the party $20 000–$30 000 per year by reducing the processing fees on donations.
Bremner-Akins said he is the only leadership candidate who has ran for MLA before, and has many people from his past campaigns that are willing to support him again.
He said he plans to tour and visit communities in the province that are important for Green support, such as Metro Vancouver, Kamloops, and Victoria. He also said he has support within the party, and with potential candidates with strong reputations in their communities such as some municipal counsellors .
Emily Lowan
Lowan started as a volunteer for the BC Greens a decade ago. She said she has led federal policy coalitions and served as a strategist at Climate Action Network Canada. She is also a UVic alumna, and previously served as the UVSS Director of Campaigns and Community Relations.
She has been endorsed by notable climate activists David Suzuki and Tzeporah Berman, along with Indigenous leaders such as Grand Chief Stewart Phillip. Lowan emphasized her ability to fundraise and campaign, citing the over $70 000 she said her team raised during the race. Like Kerr, Lowan expressed her desire to raise taxes on wealthy British Columbians.
Lowan pointed to her recently released 100-day plan, which entails a tour of the province to rebuild and reconnect with existing Greens candidates, while also recruiting new ones. Lowan said she may push some of her endorsers — including local leaders, and people with international expertise and profile — to run for the BC Greens. She mentioned during the Peace and Unity in Northern BC, a community leader approached her and said he would run if she won, implying her leadership could bring in candidates with the potential to flip certain ridings.
The Carbon Tax
The candidates were asked if restoring a price on carbon should be the number one priority of the BC Greens. Lowan disagreed, stating that conservatives have given the carbon tax a bad reputation. Lowan added that the tax should exist, but that the party must find a way to reintroduce it in a manner that is less polarizing. Lowan also added that she remains committed to implementing policies that make the largest polluters “pay their fair share.“
Kerr said the carbon tax was not his first priority, pointing instead toward tackling BC’s high cost of living, housing, healthcare, achieving proportional representation, and environmental issues. Kerr believes these five issues will be important focal points of the next election, and that the party needs to appoint someone with relevant experience like himself.
Bremner-Akins said his first priority was not the carbon tax, but rather getting more seats in the legislature. He said he believes that carbon pricing is the most effective tool to address the climate crisis, and that the party needs to find ways to hold big polluters accountable without punishing those who are struggling to survive in the province due to the cost of living.
Fiscal Policy
Kerr was asked whether eliminating provincial debt should be the BC government’s fiscal priority, to which he said he is very averse to debt. Kerr said he wants to limit B.C.’s debt, and emphasized the importance of paying down BC’s existing balances.
Kerr said he plans to expand services while decreasing debt by investing in clean energy — which he claims will create 3.4 times as many jobs as investing in oil and gas.
Bremner-Akins believes the priority of the party should be taking care of the needs of everyone in the province. He said that the billions of dollars per year that are being given to fossil fuel companies could instead be going toward paying down the province’s debt. Like Kerr, Bremner-Akins emphasized the importance of investing in green projects.
Lowan claimed the top B.C. billionaires are making 5 845 times more than the typical B.C. household. She advocates for increasing corporate taxes, as well as increasing the amount of land value tax on homes worth $3 million or more.
Working With Carney
On the subject of cooperation with the Carney government — “whose plan is to fast-track fossil fuel projects” — Bremner-Akins said his priority would be building relationships with members of the Carney government and finding ways to work with them. Bremner-Akins says he will stand strong on not allowing new fossil fuel infrastructure in the province, and make it clear to the federal government BC has a right to choose.
Lowan said she sees little difference between the Carney government and the BC NDP — arguing they both are using the threat of Donald Trump to “recolonize the province” and force through fossil fuel projects, allegedly without the consent of Indigenous communities. She pledged to push for a suspension of fossil fuel expansion and ending all fossil fuel subsidies.
Kerr expressed frustration with Carney’s plans to expand the fossil fuels industry, and said he would not allow any more fracking or pipelines. He suggested that tourism is a larger part of BC’s economy than oil and gas, and that the environment needs to be protected.
Kerr said he does not believe he would have trouble working with Carney or anyone.
Agricultural Land and Housing
The three candidates were asked whether or not agricultural land should be made available for housing. Kerr emphasized the importance of affordable housing, but said it must be “the right type of housing.” Kerr instead advocated for the creation of a housing authority to build below market rental housing tied to income, and suggested that our farmland should be used for local food production to provide free school lunches.
Bremner-Akins believes there needs to be a review of existing regulations of agricultural land which he claims are pushing farmers off of agricultural land. He is opposed to the removal of agricultural farmland, arguing there is only a small amount of land that is not farmable that could be repurposed.
Lowan said she would fully invest in non-market and social housing initiatives. She believes housing must be treated as a human right, and there needs to be guardrails on “predatory [property] developers.”
Public Safety and Peace Officers
The candidates were asked if they felt public safety is best served by increasing foot patrols by peace officers. Bremner-Akins said public safety is most improved when everyone in the province is provided for — meaning everyone has a right to housing, mental healthcare, addiction treatment, among other things — and by providing these things, people won’t be put into positions where crime and theft is enticing.
Lowan also felt increased peace officers were not the answer, instead advocating for investing in preventative care, community supports, and resourcing and funding for social workers. She committed to getting school police liaisons out of school — opposing the BC NDP’s moves to keep them — and instead supporting full-time counsellors so students get the support they need.
Kerr thanked the province’s police officers, but said peace officers can’t be the only answer. He referenced the success of Comox’s restorative justice program, which seeks to help the community find solutions to the issues they face. Kerr also advocated for a “fourth option” for 911 calls — a mental health option — where a fast-moving mental health team is dispatched to situations where people may be in crisis but may not need police, ambulance, or fire.
Old-growth and Respecting Indigenous Rights and Sovereignty
In response to a question about protecting old-growth forests while also respecting Indigenous rights and sovereignty, Bremner-Akins urged the importance of letting Indigenous peoples lead the effort to protect B.C.’s old-growth. He believes in working with Indigenous communities and respecting their ecological wisdom.
Lowan believes Indigenous peoples are being put between a rock and a hard place, suggesting they often either have to deal with abject poverty, or having their land and resources destroyed. She advocated for fully implementing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), requiring free, prior, and informed consent with Indigenous communities, amending the fast-tracking laws (Bills 14 and 15), and making it easier for Indigenous Nations to pursue full title.
Kerr agreed with much of what Lowan and Bremner-Akins said, and believes Indigenous peoples must be respected. He agreed the province needs to fully implement DRIPA. Kerr also called for Indigenous nations be given other sources of revenue.
Voting remains open until Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 11:59 p.m. If you are registered to vote and have verified your identity, but did not receive an email ballot, you can contact the Green Party for support at 1-888-473-3686.
