The BC Green Party leadership race has taken on new life with the entry of Emily Lowan, a 24-year-old climate organizer whose candidacy is turning heads across the province. At a time when youth engagement in politics is at risk of stagnating, Lowan is promising not only generational change—but a seemingly left-wing platform grounded in the climate and indigenous rights movements.
Lowan’s resume indicates she currently serves as Fossil Fuel Supply Campaigns Lead for Climate Action Network Canada, working in coalition with 180 civil society organizations to halt new fossil fuel expansion. Prior to that, she helped lead the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Corporate Mapping Project, training dozens of grassroots groups in research and campaign strategy. As Director of Campaigns at the University of Victoria Student Society, she helped deliver a major victory in the school’s fossil fuel divestment campaign.
Lowan’s leadership platform is progressive: she has called for price caps on staple groceries, a ban on all new fossil fuel projects, a wealth tax on BC’s richest corporations, and free public transit. She’s also been outspoken about upholding Indigenous rights, including full implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) and rejection of any project that lacks free, prior, and informed consent.
A Movement Organizer Ready to Lead
What stands out most about Lowan’s campaign is not just her policy vision, but her deep roots in movement organizing. Her opposition to the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline has placed her directly alongside frontline Indigenous nations like the Gitanyow and Gitxsan. She’s not just speaking about climate justice—she’s organizing, researching, and resisting in real time.
This record sets her apart from her main competitor, Jonathan Kerr, a family doctor and two-term Comox councillor who brings establishment experience but a more traditional, centrist tone. While Kerr speaks of party-building and gradual expansion, Lowan represents a clear shift toward movement-driven, youth-led leadership focused on climate, class, and decolonization.
Her campaign slogan, “Fight the oligarchs,” signals a readiness to take on entrenched power—not just environmentally, but economically and politically. At a time when working-class British Columbians are struggling with unaffordable housing, skyrocketing food prices, and widening inequality, Lowan’s message is resonating.
Youth Base, Older Leadership
Polling and electoral results have consistently shown that the Green Party draws disproportionate support from young voters, particularly those concerned about the climate crisis and economic injustice. Yet the party’s leadership—both provincially and federally—remains largely in the hands of older figures.
At the national level, Elizabeth May, now 71 years old, has long dominated the party. While she is celebrated for her climate advocacy, May has frequently struggled to collaborate with younger, more left-wing activists, many of whom have been sidelined or neutralized under her leadership. May’s political orientation tends towards right wing economics, centrist social policy, hawkish foreign policy and moderate environmentalism. It is therefore highly unlikely that May would endorse a young and outspoken candidate like Lowan, whose rhetoric and record suggests that under her leadership the B.C. Greens would seek rapid realignment with the more radicle youth climate movement aligned with social justice, indigenous rights and wealth redistribution.
Lowan’s potential predecessors struggled to support movements like Ferry Creek and Wet’suwet’en and waited years before finally visiting and supporting land defenders. Former B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver even endorsed a pipeline and refinery project during his time as leader in a move that shocked many environmentalists and political observers. It’s unlikely that Lowen would make such compromises. Her style and values appear to be far more in line with the movements and values of the kind of young climate interested young voters that support the Greens. Her leadership has potential to rebuild the party from the ground up and deliver spectacular results unless she pivots to the centrist narrative of her predecessors once in office.
In contrast, Kerr may be more aligned with May’s cautious style and policy framing, and is perceived by some insiders as the continuity candidate. His leadership would likely signal a focus on electoral discipline, incremental policy progress, and consolidation of the party’s existing base.
Lowan, on the other hand, would be a gamble for growth—an invitation to rethink what the Green Party can be, especially to young people, renters, workers, and Indigenous allies. Her candidacy challenges the perception that bold, movement-based leadership is incompatible with electoral politics.
What’s Yet Unknown: Foreign Policy and Gaza
Despite her clarity on issues like climate justice and Indigenous rights, one important area where Lowan has yet to speak out is foreign policy—most notably the crisis in Gaza.
Global Green News was unable to locate any public statements or posts by Lowan regarding the Israeli assault on Gaza, which has killed over 61,000 Palestinians since October 2023. Her social media presence appears to have been built primarily for this campaign, offering little insight into her prior positions on international justice issues like ending the genocide in Gaza, the NATO proxy war in Ukraine, or the U.S. and Israel’s recent bombing of Iran.
This silence is notable given the BC Greens’ history of discomfort with pro-Palestinian advocacy. Under former leader Andrew Weaver, the party condemned the federal Greens’ support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel or “BDS” calling it “extremist.” Elizabeth May also removed members from the federal shadow cabinet for defending Palestinian rights. The party’s leadership has at times adopted positions more aligned with the Israeli government than with international human rights law.
Given Lowan’s strong emphasis on decolonization and solidarity on the climate front, one might expect her to stand with Palestinians resisting occupation and genocide. But unless she states her position clearly, that expectation remains uncertain. Stating a clear position in opposition to the genocide in Palestine is a first test of her values, willingness to speak out and ability to intervene clearly and with integrity on issues that can generate criticism.
A Fork in the Road
The BC Green leadership race presents a clear contrast: Jonathan Kerr represents continuity, discipline, and party structure. Emily Lowan offers a generational shift, a grassroots ethos, and a challenge to the political status quo.
Whether the party is ready to embrace that shift—or remains more comfortable with business as usual—will be decided by the members.
One thing is certain: the Green Party’s base is young. Its next leader should speak not only to their concerns, but with their language, urgency, and moral clarity. Emily Lowan has shown she might be that leader. But the jury is still out on whether she’s ready to speak boldly on all fronts—including world peace.
Anyone who lives in B.C. can sign up as a provincial Green Party member and vote form Emily or her opponent in the leadership race.
