Lək̓ʔəŋən [LEKWUNGEN] TERRITORY / VICTORIA, B.C. — Coming out of a record-breaking 2025 Convention & AGM weekend, BC Green Party Leader Emily Lowan announced the resounding passage of a landmark motion committing the party to oppose genocide, apartheid, systemic discrimination, and colonial violence — at home and around the world. The motion passed with 94.8% support from voting members.
“This is a historic moment for politics in British Columbia,” Lowan said. “At a time when governments will not even acknowledge the reality of genocide in Palestine, the BC Greens are choosing to lead. We are choosing to say, without qualification, that all people deserve freedom, safety, dignity, and the right to live without state violence. We are now the only anti-genocide political party in this province.”
Co-developed with Young Greens Co-Chair Natalie Lingren, the motion affirms the party’s commitment to ending all forms of discrimination and upholding the inherent rights and freedoms of all human beings, whether in B.C., across Canada, or abroad.
Lowan added: “We cannot undo the devastation inflicted by genocidal regimes, but we can educate, agitate, and organize for a world where everyone is truly free. Colonial violence has shaped this province, this country, and our global reality. Canada has barely begun to reckon with its own attempts at eradication and assimilation. The ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people by the Israeli state follows the same logic — a settler-colonial project built on the erasure of those already there. Canada’s silence on this genocide reflects our unresolved guilt.
“The BC Greens will not be silent. We will hold the line for justice, for international human rights, and for communities fighting for liberation. And we will continue to actively combat anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, and all forms of hatred and discrimination.”
The motion will guide future BC Green platform development, including exploring actions such as divesting provincial pension funds from companies involved in military occupation, arms manufacturing, or other documented human-rights violations.
Lowan, now entering her first months of leadership, said the Convention & AGM marked a turning point for the party: “Our movement is growing because British Columbians are hungry for courageous, values-driven politics. Over the weekend, we welcomed new members, trained volunteers, and built the grassroots power necessary to take on billionaire interests, corporate capture, and the status quo. We are uniting a new generation of Greens who believe hope is a discipline — and who are ready to build something better.”
BC Green MLA Jeremy Valeriote, who attended the vote, said members demonstrated a level of political courage missing from the BC Legislature. “This is what moral leadership looks like,” Valeriote said. “When governments refuse to condemn human rights violations, people lose faith in politics. What I saw this weekend was the opposite: members standing up for global justice, Indigenous rights, and universal human dignity. I’m deeply proud of our party for taking this stand.”
As the party moves forward, Lowan said she is continuing her Fight the Oligarchs tour across the province — meeting with communities, listening to those most impacted by injustice, and building the movement needed to confront concentrated wealth and political power. “This motion strengthens our mandate for that work,” she said. “I’m looking forward to learning from people across B.C. and organizing together for a province, and a world, where everyone can live in dignity and freedom.”
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Motion excerpt
MOTION: The BC Greens stand firmly against all forms of oppression — including apartheid, systemic discrimination and injustice, genocide, and colonization — wherever they occur. We are committed to ending all forms of discrimination and upholding the fundamental freedoms and rights to which every human being is inherently entitled, whether within our party, our province, our country, or abroad. For no one is truly free until everyone is free.