Andrew Weaver announces plans to step down from BC Green Party leadership

Andrew Weaver announced on Monday that he has asked to step down from his role as leader of the B.C. Green Party.

He will also not be seeking re-election as MLA of the Oak Bay-Gordon Head riding in 2021 elections.

See also: BC Green Party introduces bill to ban LGBTQ conversion therapy

While Weaver produced no concrete reason for his decisions, he stated in a tweet that he “feel[s] it is the right time… to pass the baton to this next generation of leaders” in the midst of climate change protests across Canada and the world.

“This is not an easy decision for me. I feel a deep responsibility and pride for the role BC Greens have played in getting [BC legislation] back on track to meet its climate commitments and to reframe climate change as an economic opportunity – instead of a purely environmental issue,” writes Weaver in a tweet.

He plans to stay on in his capacity as Green Party leader until the Chair of the Green Party Provincial Council has elected a successor, which he expects will happen in the early summer of next year, sometime after the next spring legislative session.

Weaver occupies one of three seats held by his party in order to form a minority NDP government in BC. The NDP’s have 41 seats while the BC Liberals occupy 42.

“I will continue to work with my colleagues in the BC NDP to accomplish what was set out in our Confidence and Supply Agreement. Nothing that I am announcing today changes my commitment to work within this agreement and to see the delivery of our shared agenda,” he wrote in a statement.

He was the Green Party’s first MLA in Oak Bay-Gordon Head in the 2013 provincial election, and was acclaimed as leader of party just two years later.

Back in September 2019, Weaver fell ill just before his keynote address at the Canadian Propane Association BC Seminar and was hospitalized.

He was diagnosed with labyrinthitis, an inner ear disorder that can cause dizziness, nausea, loss of hearing, and vertigo.