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Policy platforms come as former chief coroner named Saanich South candidate
Published 3:25 pm Friday, October 2, 2026From left: Incumbent MLA Rob Botterell, B.C. Green Party Leader Emily Lowan and incumbent MLA MLA West Vancouver-Sea to Sky Jeremy Valeriote at a press conference in Victoria Wednesday, Sepr. 23, 2026.
The B.C. Greens have released two more party platforms around support for local food production and farmers and its toxic drug policy. Leader Emily Lowan made the two separate announcements in Greater Victoria Thursday , alongsideLapointe will be going up against NDP candidate Richard Zussman, a former journalist, and Conservative Cathie Ounsted. The seat was held byLowan said B.C.
’s food security is becoming increasingly vulnerable amid more frequent climate disasters and as Canada faces a trade war with the United States.
“That’s why localized production, control and consumption are so important—but B.C. ’s farmland has been put up for sale,” said Lowan.
“Under the current Agricultural Land Reserve system, there is no restriction of foreign or corporate ownership, and no requirement to farm productive land—leading to the rapid accumulation of B.C. ’s farmland by American billionaires. ” She said the NDP government has failed to act on this issue for years, with the B.C. Greens introducing legislation to ban foreign ownership of farmland in 2017.
• Protecting B.C. ’s farms and food security by restricting non-resident and investment first ownership of farmland, specifically limiting Agricultural Land Reserve land parcels greater than four hectares only to citizens and permanent residents; • Making food sovereignty part of the Agricultural Land Commission’s mandate, to protect and prioritize agricultural use, and provide additional funding and staffing to fulfill that mandate; • Improving public data on who owns B.C.
’s farmland, how ownership is changing and how agricultural land is being used, so governments, researchers and the public can better understand emerging trends and develop effective policy;The policy, among other things, will also include committing the Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Ministry to work with farmers to ensure the protection of food crops during drought periods. Lowan, joined by Lapointe later in the day, announced her party’s plan to address the toxic drug crisis in B.C.
Since the toxic drug crisis was declared in 2016, there have been more than 18,000 overdose deaths in the province. There have been 776 in the first six months of 2026, according to the latest data from the B.C. Coroner Service. Lowan said this is a crisis that has affected everyone in B.C.
, from families dealing with death and grief to frontline workers who spend every day dealing with trauma and harm inside a system that doesn’t support them, to communities who are left to carry the weight of a crisis that is politicised and never solved. ”In that role, a B.C. C Coroner Service death review panel had called for the province to expand access to safer supply drugs by removing the requirement for a doctor’s prescriptions. B.C.
’s mental health and addictions minister swiftly said that’s out of the question.
“I recognize that the toxic drug crisis will only be solved when politicians are willing to show leadership; when regulated alternatives are available, when voluntary treatment is available when people need it, and when people who use drugs have the same access to resources, medical care, housing, dignity and respect as anyone else,” Lapointe said. • Providing regulated, pharmaceutical alternatives to the illicit drug supply to reduce• Enhancing access to supervised consumption sites and overdose prevention sites.
Ensure that they have the capacity for safe inhalation spaces to reduce harm and public drug• Treating drug use as a health and social issue, not a criminal one, by decriminalising• Ensuring children and youth are educated about drug risks and supported by trusted adults to make informed decisions
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