VICTORIA — The British Columbia Green Party has named former chief coroner Lisa Lapointe as the party’s candidate in the riding of Saanich South on Vancouver Island. Leader Emily Lowan announced Lapointe’s candidacy as the party unveiled its toxic drugs policy on Thursday. Lowan says the overdose crisis kills many British Columbians each day, and front-line workers bear the brunt of a “politicized” system that has failed to solve the problem. She says Lapointe and the party will “put an end to the failures” behind the crisis that has killed thousands of people since the province declared a public health emergency in April 2016. Lapointe says the crisis can only be solved when politicians are willing to show leadership, when voluntary treatment and regulated alternative drugs are available, and when those who use drugs have the same access to resources as anyone else. She will go up against the NDP’s Richard Zussman, a former TV journalist turned lobbyist, and the Conservatives’ Cathie Ounsted, who served on the Central Saanich Police Board and the board of directors of the Victoria Airport Authority. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2026.
