---
title: "Former BC chief coroner Lisa Lapointe named BC Green candidate in Saanich South"
description: "The BC Green Party has named Lisa Lapointe, who served as the province's chief coroner for more than a decade, as its candidate in the Saanich South riding on Vancouver Island."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/provincial-2026/news/lisa-lapointe-bc-greens-saanich-south-2026"
last_updated: "2026-10-10T04:07:01.215Z"
---

The BC Green Party named former chief coroner Lisa Lapointe as its candidate in the Saanich South riding on October 1, 2026. CTV News and The Canadian Press reported that BC Green Party leader Emily Lowan made the announcement the same day the party released its toxic drugs policy.

Lapointe served as British Columbia's chief coroner from 2011 to 2022. In that role, she investigated deaths across the province and produced public reports on overdose deaths, a file that grew through her tenure as the province's drug poisoning crisis continued.

Lowan, according to the Canadian Press report, said the overdose crisis kills many British Columbians each day and that front-line workers carry the burden of a system that has not resolved the problem. Lowan said Lapointe and the party would "put an end to the failures" behind the crisis, which she said has killed thousands of people since BC declared a public health emergency in April 2016.

Lapointe, as reported by CTV News, said the crisis requires politicians willing to show leadership, and that voluntary treatment and regulated alternative drugs must be available. She said people who use drugs should have the same access to resources as anyone else.

Lapointe will run against BC NDP candidate [Richard Zussman](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/richard-zussman), a former television journalist who later worked as a lobbyist, and Conservative candidate Cathie Ounsted, who served on the Central Saanich Police Board and on the board of the Victoria Airport Authority, according to the Canadian Press report. Saanich South is a riding on the southern tip of Vancouver Island.

The BC Green Party runs candidates across British Columbia in the October 24 election. The party's page is at [/bc/provincial-2026/parties/bc-green-party](/bc/provincial-2026/parties/bc-green-party).

Nominations for the October 24 election close October 3, 2026 at 1 p.m. Pacific time. The full list of confirmed candidates in Saanich South and every other riding will be available at [/bc/provincial-2026/candidates](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates) after that deadline.

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