Green Party leader slams B.C. NDP's appeal to Green voters

B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau is pushing back against the B.C. NDP's plea for Green voters to abandon her ship and hop aboard the NDP's ship instead. 

The statement from Furstenau came on Sunday, after B.C. NDP leader David Eby made an appeal to Green voters at a campaign stop in Squamish, B.C.

Eby said Green and NDP voters should stick together this election to defeat John Rustad's B.C. Conservatives, who he says are running a campaign of division, denial and plans to dismantle climate, healthcare and housing affordability initiatives.

Given the tight race between the parties, Eby said he was asking voters to think what it would be like to see Rustad win and then make service cuts.

"Take a moment and think about how it would feel if … the morning after the election, you wake up and the premier of B.C. is John Rustad and he begins his work to cut the services we all depend on?" Eby said. 

"Your vote matters in this election in a way that hasn't been the case before," he said. "We can ensure we're delivering a high quality health-care system and we can make sure we're continuing to take climate action."

Within hours, Furstenau took to social media and replied to Eby's appeal.

"You began this campaign by backtracking on core NDP values," she wrote in a statement posted to X, referring to Eby's changing positions on the carbon tax and involuntary care.

"So if we don't elect more B.C. Greens, who will stop you from adopting more of John Rustad's positions?" it continued. 

Furstenau has said she doesn't expect her party to garner enough votes to form government, but has repeatedly expressed throughout the campaign that electing Green Party MLAs would ensure B.C. the legislature isn't dominated by the NDP or Conservatives.

Later on Sunday, Furstenau followed up with a statement, in which she boasted that her party is leading in polls for Victoria-Beacon Hill and doing well in other ridings across the province. 

She also slammed Eby's campaign.

"Throughout his campaign, Eby has focused on telling people not to vote for the B.C. Conservatives, and now he's telling people not to vote for the B.C. Greens," she said.

"What he's failed to demonstrate is why British Columbians should vote for the B.C. NDP, effectively squandering the multi-point lead he had for most of this year," she added.