Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands, has been appointed interim leader of the BC Green Party.
The announcement was made by Olsen himself and live streamed on various social media platforms on Friday morning.
See also: Andrew Weaver announces plans to step down from BC Green Party leadership
As interim leader, Olsen will not be permitted to run for the permanent leadership permission due to party bylaws.
In October 2019, party leader Andrew Weaver asked to step down from his role and announced that he will also not be seeking re-election as MLA of the Oak Bay-Gordon Head riding in 2021 elections.
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.
The Chair of the Green Party Provincial Council is expected to elect a permanent successor, in the early summer of next year, sometime after the next spring legislative session.
Weaver 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.
