This is part 1/3 of a series on the candidates for the BC election.

Sonia Furstenau was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1970. She was born into a low-income subsidized housing program, but was given the opportunity to get ahead through an experimental early childhood education program. Before she started grade one, she knew how to read and write. When she graduated from high school, tuition froze. So she moved to victoria with her young son to earn her masters in history and bachelor in education. After this, she went to England to begin a PHD in education and returned halfway through to teach in BC. She believed she could make a better impact through teaching. 

Sonia has held many jobs including a waitress, a bookkeeper, a National Administrator for Results Canada, and a high school teacher. Her first foray into politics was in 2014, when she was elected Area Director for Area B of the Cowichan Valley Regional District. She was prompted to run because of the previous government’s choice to grant a permit to a company that allows them to dump contaminated soil into a watershed. In 2017, she finally got the government to repeal this permit. After this, she decided to run for the Green party in the Cowichan Valley region. The community must have been happy with her work, because she became the first green MLA elected in that region.

In this election the greens are focusing on improvements to childcare. They see to make childcare for children under four free, stating “the pandemic has reminded many people that they need to take time away from work to enjoy a better balance, to take care of their mental and physical health, and to look after their families.”

Realistically, we will not end up with a green party majority. However, the last election has proven that the green party is not powerless, they may be the most important factor in determining the future of our province.