Chamber hosts final election event with Green Party leader

The Chamber hosted the fourth and final Leading to Election event yesterday, with about 30 people enjoying breakfast and a lively Q&A with BC Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau.

Furstenau spoke about her entrepreneurial history as a university student operating a food stand at the Moss Street Market, which led to a catering enterprise. She also worked as a bookkeeper and says the experiences helped her understand the hard work and risk of running a small business. She’s taken that understanding with her into politics, noting that the private sector generates the revenue that the public sector spends.

And the way that the government spends needs to change, she said, pointing out that BC has the same budget as Denmark but delivers a lot less to its citizens.

“If we’re going to spend $89 billion, I want all the nice things,” she said, adding that Denmark has better healthcare and social security programs.

Questions raised by Chamber members included how the BC Greens would address transportation challenges and how they would support a minority government if given the opportunity.

Fursetenau said the party would learn from its past mistakes and focus on reframing the narrative of government so that British Columbians have faith it can work for them and drive innovation to support the private sector economy.