If we change... everything changes.

This time... Vote Green

David Coon, Leader Green Party
Honest and Caring Leadership.
Green Party Leader David Coon has devoted his working life to advance the public good,
championing local decision-making and environmental protection.
He believes that government has a critical role to ensure that everyone can reach their full
potential, and those in need are well cared for.
David understands that a healthy economy depends on a healthy environment that a just
society requires an economy that works for people and communities not against them.
The full costing of the Green Party platform is available in a companion document.
1 2014 Election Platform
This time... Vote Green.
The Green Party thinks long-term. We
are dedicated to building a secure
future for our children and their
children. That means that we are
committed to long-term practical
solutions for a sustainable future.
We must have the courage to confront
the major challenges we face: a broken political
system, growing income inequality, the climate
crisis, and ecological decline.
The Green Party represents opportunity: an
opportunity to change for the better our
politics, our communities, and our economy. Ours
is a vision of sustainability and social justice. We
believe that New Brunswickers have the will and
ingenuity to build a socially just and ecologically
sustainable society, an economy that provides
work for all, and that respects nature.
A New Approach
1
www.greenpartynb.ca/en/partymenu/charter-of-principles
Our priorities in this election are to:
1. Take charge of our future to put people and communities rst.
2. Fix politics so government works with people and their
communities.
3. Create strong local economies that provide green jobs
4. Rebuild forestry for the good of our peoples, our water, and
wildlife.
5. Deliver preventative health care and timely access to all health
care services.
6. Ensure everyone pays their fair share to provide the services we
need.
What We Stand For
Our priorities in this election advance the six principles
1
that dene
what the Green Party of New Brunswick stands for:
Living Within Our Ecological and Financial Means
Local Self-reliance
Grassroots Democracy
A Just Society
Active Citizenship and Self-Determination
A Culture of Peace
2 Green Party of New Brunswick
If we change... everything changes.
Never before has the need to reconcile our relationships
with each other and with the Earth which sustains all life
been more urgent. And never before has the opportunity to
change direction in our politics, our economics
and our communities been so apparent.
Worldwide, people are embracing new
thinking and new ways of doing things to
address the growing problems of economic
injustice, insecurity, ecological decline and
climate change. New Brunswick must not be
left behind. This province has the talent, the
values, and the means to change. The Green
Party provides the political leadership to make
that change happen.
The Green Partys dening issue is the future and the legacy
we will leave for our children. We shape our future by the
choices we make today.
If we want a viable, healthy future for our children, then we
have to start moving in that direction now.
Building a Culture of Sustainability
The Green Partys
dening issue is
the future and the
legacy we will leave
for our children. We
shape our future by
the choices we make
today.
Ours is a vision of sustainability communities that provide
fullling lives for everyone, and an economy that works with,
not against, people and the Earth.
In a sustainable and just New Brunswick, a lot of
things will look different than they do today: the
communities we live in; how and where our food
is produced; how we will take care of the most
vulnerable; how we move ourselves around and
power our homes, businesses and public buildings;
how we will provide meaningful livelihoods; and
what we do in our leisure time.
Environmental sustainability, social justice and
democracy are not issues that can be treated in
isolation, but must be considered in everything we do.
Thats why our social development, environmental
protection, and democratic reform policies are integrated
throughout our platform.
3 2014 Election Platform
This time... Vote Green.
The Green Party will work with
communities to advance the public
interest, rather than submit to corporate
agendas, such the Irving forestry deal.
This is our province and we need to
be in the drivers seat. We will shake
off the corporate stranglehold on our
society, our politics, and our media that
both the Liberals and Conservatives have enabled.
Surrendering to a future that primarily benets Irving
or other corporate interests is unfair and unsustainable. We
just cannot afford it. Its time we take charge of our future.
Central to this vision is the role citizens must play. For
too long, we have been marginalized by governments
and lobby groups simply as taxpayers or consumers, or
clients. We are none of these things. We are citizens of this
democracy and our active and meaningful participation
with our elected representatives is the cornerstone of
reclaiming our future. Green MLAs will be committed
to working with people and their communities. We will
stand up for you in the Legislative Assembly and insist that
citizens are part of decision-making in New Brunswick.
Taking Charge of Our Future
A Green Government would:
Legislate a 40 percent cap on the concentration of corporate
print media ownership, and eliminate the ownership of media
by corporations with signicant non-media interests in New
Brunswick.
Require a three-year waiting period before retired MLAs or public
servants can work as lobbyists. Require lobbyists to divulge
any contribution either nancial or in-kind to candidates,
politicians, political staff, political appointees or public servants.
Introduce a bill to require governments to provide citizens with
green papers on challenges faced by New Brunswick and white
papers outlining major new policy or legislative initiatives, and to
engage in meaningful public consultation.
Open up government with sunshine laws, which, among other
things, would require all government contracts be posted in
a public registry, place the onus on public servants to provide
information to the public when requested, and overhaul the
Right to Information Act so it treats the business of government
as the business of its citizens.
4 Green Party of New Brunswick
If we change... everything changes.
A representative democracy requires that
Members of the Legislative Assembly
represent the views of their constituents to
the best of their ability, no matter how their
party or leader wants them to vote or what
they want them to say. A participatory and
responsive democracy gives people meaningful
opportunities to participate in the decisions that affect their
lives. That means government seeks your views on policy
changes and proposals BEFORE decisions are made. It means
government listens to citizens and responds: not just during
elections, but every day. Real democracy doesnt end with
the election of politicians to run the show until the next
election. Real democracy is participatory, representative, and
responsive.
A Green government will shift power from the Premiers
inner sanctum back to the Legislature and its MLAs, no
matter what their political stripe. Green Party MLAs will not
be required to vote the party line. They will represent their
constituents, and they will have an obligation to regularly
solicit the views of, and consult with, the people of their riding.
Fixing Politics
The Green Party will put more power in the hands of citizens
and communities to help to solve the challenges that we
face. This will be done through citizen assemblies, town hall
meetings, and Legislative committee hearings.
A Green Government would:
Pursue proportional representation where seats in the
Legislature would more closely reect the popular vote.
This reform to our electoral system would be based on
the recommendations of New Brunswicks Commission on
Legislative Democracy
2
.
Move power and money from the Premiers ofce to the
Legislature. This would provide legislative committees with
the resources and research capacity to hold public hearings
on proposed policy and legislation, so policies and bills can be
amended to better serve the public interest.
Introduce a bill to create a job description for MLAs that denes
their roles and responsibilities as representatives of their
constituents and as legislators.
Amend the Public Interest Disclosure Act to increase protection
for government whistleblowers with sanctions for those who
might retaliate against them.
2
http://www.electionsnb.ca/pdf/cld/CLDFinalReport-e.pdf
5 2014 Election Platform
This time... Vote Green.
A Green Government would:
Recognize and respect the treaties signed
with First Nations, the Passamaquoddy, the
Wolastoqiyik, and the Mikmaq as the
legal basis for the relationship between
the Province of New Brunswick and First
Nations peoples.
Launch a public education program
to build awareness about our historic and
current treaty relationship with First Nations, to
be coordinated by the Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat.
Establish citizen assemblies in which aboriginal and non-
aboriginal people of New Brunswick can come together to
make recommendations on how our Peace and Friendship
Treaties, recognized in Canadas Constitution, should be
respected in our province.
Legislate the duty to consult with First Nations in compliance
with Supreme Court decisions.
3
Right Relations with First Nations
Serve as an ally to New Brunswick First Nations in their
dealings with Ottawa.
Pressure the federal government to nance native language
immersion education for First Nations children phased-in one
year at a time, and support immersion teacher training to
properly deliver this program.
Implement the recommendations of the Ombudsman and
Child and Youth Advocate Bernard Richard regarding the child
welfare system on First Nations.
4
3
2004 decision Haida Nation v. British Columbia; 2014 decision Tsilhgotin First Nation v. British Columbia
4
http://www.gnb.ca/0073/review/PDF/handinhand-e.pdf
6 Green Party of New Brunswick
If we change... everything changes.
A strong local economy strengthens businesses,
cooperatives, and social enterprise. The Green
Party will strengthen local economies in
our cities and in our rural communities. Our
strategy will create new work with green
jobs supplying local food, constructing green
buildings, producing local renewable energy,
sustainably using forest resources and supplying more of what
New Brunswickers need. We will promote the clean tech and
information technology sectors as instrumental to growing
new greener economies in our cities. And we will champion the
arts, education and recreation as essential to building vibrant
new economies in every corner of our province.
A Green Government would:
Introduce a Local Food Security Act to set targets and
timetables for New Brunswick to become self-reliant in locally
produced food to create jobs and business opportunities here.
The Act would require a New Brunswick rst food purchasing
policy for all provincial institutions, Crown agencies and
departments. It would create a food labelling program so
consumers can identify food produced and processed locally.
Strengthening Local Economies
Legislate a Renewable Energy Act with targets and timelines
to green New Brunswicks energy system and reduce energy
demand over 20 years. It would green the electrical grid, by
requiring NB Power to replace its use of all non-renewable
fuels for electricity generation with renewable sources. It
would include measures to ensure the majority of residential
and commercial heating is supplied by geothermal, solar and
bioenergy. This would create jobs in engineering, trades, and
manufacturing.
Accelerate the creation of a smart electrical grid to help achieve
the Renewable Energy Acts target for renewable energy use and to
permit the rapid adoption of electric vehicles. This would provide
tremendous opportunities in the tech, information technology,
computer science, electrical trades, and engineering sectors.
Give New Brunswicks Energy Efciency and Conservation
Agency the mandate to pursue a ten-year building retrot
strategy with clear targets to reduce energy demand and
lower heating costs for households and business through
nancial incentives and technical advice. According to the
Energy Efciency and Conservation Agency, for every $1 of
incentive, $5.25 is invested by building owners on efciency
projects, creating jobs and business start-ups.
5
Restore New Brunswicks Energy Efciency and Conservation
Agencys mandate for transportation to ensure New
Brunswickers have access to convenient and affordable public
transportation.
5
http://efciencynb.ca/home/results.html
7 2014 Election Platform
This time... Vote Green.
Implement an import replacement strategy to encourage
more local production of goods and services to increase
employment in New Brunswick.
Bring competition to the forest products sector by making
bre, timber and non-timber resources from Crown land
available to local enterprises, ensuring local communities
have rst rights to forest resources in their region.
Work with provincial arts, culture and heritage organizations to
implement ArtsLinkNB recommendations for sustaining the arts
sector as a vital part of the economy.
6
REBUILD FORESTRY
The Green Party will create a new Forests Sustainability Act
in consultation with all New Brunswickers, and which
respects our treaty relationships with First Nations.
We will ensure that Crown lands are managed to
sustain the Acadian forest while providing more
work and opportunity for our local communities. A
diverse Acadian forest can sustain water and wildlife,
support a diverse forest economy, and best cope with the
consequences of climate change.
A Green Government would:
Enact legislation to immediately cancel all contracts signed by
the Alward government with forestry companies that guarantee
a 25-year increase in wood supply.
Restore the status of private woodlots as the primary source of
wood supply to mills.
Replace the Crown Lands and Forests Act with a Crown Land and
Forest Sustainability Act. The Act would create a new management
structure that respects our treaty relationship with First Nations
and the Supreme Courts recent Tsilqhotin decision, works with
forest-based communities, linking access to forest resources to
local regions, while protecting water, sh, and wildlife.
Replace the timber-using companies (the mills) as the
managers of Crown land with professional management
authorities that are publicly accountable to the people of the
province. Forest management services could be provided by
cooperative, social or business enterprises or by public sector
agencies through forest management agreements signed
with the Department of Natural Resources, First Nations or
municipalities, depending on the relevant jurisdiction.
Provide for the creation of Community Forest licenses, as has
been done in BC, adjacent to and within municipalities and
First nations. Community forest license holders would have
the authority to control the use of forest resources within that
license. A portion of the stumpage fees would remain in the
community.
Implement a plan to protect and restore Acadian forest
biodiversity, ending logging in any remaining old growth
forest.
6
http://rstmoncton.com/hp_wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Finalartslinkreport_feb2013b.pdf
8 Green Party of New Brunswick
If we change... everything changes.
AGRICULTURE
A Green Government would:
In addition to building a local food economy, establish
provincial goals for increasing the percentage of agricultural
production that is organic, making available a transition
fund to protect farm families income during the three-year
transition period to organic production.
Increase the organic production extension services within the
Department of Agriculture to be funded by re-directing the
focus of existing extension services.
Give farmers greater economic power in the marketplace by
supporting marketing cooperatives and supply management
systems, while exempting direct-to-consumer sales from
supply management or quota restrictions.
Reform provincial food inspection regimes to account for
differences between farm-gate, mid-sized, and industrial-scale
facilities to encourage the development of slaughterhouses, food
production, and distribution enterprises to serve local markets.
Advocate for federal mandatory labeling of all genetically
engineered foods and food ingredients.
OIL AND GAS
A Green Government would:
Legislate new provincial greenhouse gas reduction targets of 15
percent below 2012 levels by 2020; 40 percent below 2012 levels
by 2030, and 75 to 85 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 in keeping
with global efforts to stabilize the climate system through the
phase out of fossil fuels and shift to a renewable energy.
Discourage increases in the production and use of fossil fuels
by denying permits for new fossil fuel infrastructure such as
the Energy East pipeline.
Ban the exploration and exploitation of shale gas with
legislation that will cancel shale-gas related exploration
licences and production leases.
FINANCING THE TRANSITION TO STRONGER
LOCAL ECONOMIES
Establish a $10 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent levy on
the import or extraction of fossil fuels consumed in the province.
7

The levy would apply to energy producers and importers and is
estimated to generate $164 million per year.
8
Revenues would be
used, along with federal gas tax fund revenue, to fund new green
infrastructure such as public transportation, energy efciency and
renewable energy investments.
Establish Community Economic Development Investment
Funds (CEDIF), following the Nova Scotia model to nance
investment in green economy enterprise start-ups.
9
Establish New Brunswick Savings Bonds to keep more
investment dollars in New Brunswick.
7
16.4MT carbon dioxide equivalent in 2012
8
Alberta effectively taxes large industrial emitters. (>100,000 tonnes) at $15 per tonne of CO
2
.
A $10tCO2e tax implies a 2.34 cent increase in the price of a litre of gasoline.
9
http://www.novascotia.ca/econ/cedif/background/
9 2014 Election Platform
This time... Vote Green.
Good health is fundamental to our well-being. The
Green Party will put preventative health care
front and centre and fully integrate mental
health care into the system. We will ensure
that everyone has access to the physical,
mental, and reproductive health care they need,
when they need it.
PREVENTATIVE HEALTH CARE
A Green government would:
Increase the capacity of the Medical Ofcers of Health to better
address the social and environmental determinants of health.
Increase the resources to the well child program to support
public health nurse visits to at-risk new mothers to provide
early, and if necessary, ongoing parenting support.
Strengthen pollution regulations and phase-in a ban
on industrial releases of cancer-causing substances and
developmental toxins affecting hormone function, brain and
motor development.
Establish an Environmental Bill of Rights to: (a) Guarantee
citizens right to information about pollution threats and
hazards; (b) Provide the right to petition for investigations
and guarantee access to the justice system to prevent
Getting Healthy and Getting Care
environmental harm; (c) Appoint an environmental
ombudsman as an Ofcer of the Legislature; (d) Protect
Childrens Health from Environmental Hazards as proposed
by the New Brunswick Childrens Environmental Health
Collaborative.
10
Ban advertising directed at children under 12, as has been
done by Quebec.
Invest Gas Tax Fund revenue
11
, in programs and infrastructure
to ensure cities are walk able and bike accessible.
Establish a health tax on junk food and direct the revenue to
nance school food and wellness programs.
Accelerate investment in community health-care centres,
establishing two new centres per year over four years. Centres
would have family doctors, nurse practitioners, social workers,
therapists, dieticians, midwives, and naturopaths. They would
also provide chronic disease management, prevention-
focussed addiction and mental health services, and health and
wellness assessment and support for seniors.
10
http://www.nben.ca/en/collaborative-action/collaboratives/childrens-environmental-
health-collaborative-effort
11
The province projects $225.2 million from 2014-2019 from the gas tax transfer
agreement with the federal government.
10 Green Party of New Brunswick
If we change... everything changes.
Develop and implement womens health
agenda, to provide comprehensive
reproductive health care, mental health
counselling, chronic disease management,
and wellness support for women of all
ages.
ACCESSING HEALTH CARE
As proposed by the Mental Health Commission, increase the
proportion of the Department of Healths budget dedicated to
provide mental health services.
Mandate Horizon and Vitalit Networks to expand sexual/
reproductive health services through their existing clinics to
serve both youth and adults.
Repeal regulation 84-20 of the Medical Services Payment Act,
which requires women to seek permission from two doctors
to access abortion services.
Ensure that individuals earning less than $25,000 and families
of four earning less than $40,000 pay no annual premiums
for drug coverage, but would pay the required prescription
co-payment.
Expand home-care services for those who can remain in their
homes with assistance nanced by the savings achieved by
removing them from hospital beds. Review the standards of
care, continuing education requirements, and remuneration
for home-care workers, to ensure they can provide the
needed services at a fair salary.
Establish regional residential facilities for autistic adults who
are unable to care for themselves.
11 2014 Election Platform
This time... Vote Green.
Escaping Poverty
Poverty occurs when individuals lack the
income necessary to provide for themselves
and their families. The solution to
escaping poverty lies in ensuring New
Brunswickers have enough income to
escape poverty.
Social assistance rates in New Brunswick in 2012
were the lowest in Atlantic Canada at 64.8 percent below the
Low Income Cut-off Rate for a family with two children
12
.
The number of people relying on food banks increased from
under 16,000 in 2008 to more than 19,500 in 2012. Half of
these were women and a third were children, according to
the Common Front for Social Justice.
13
Many New Brunswickers working in full-time minimum
wage jobs continue to live in poverty.
The Green Party believes that an essential rst step to
escaping poverty is to ensure that everyone has an income
sufcient to allow them to meet their needs with dignity.
A Green Government would:
Immediately index the minimum wage to the cost of living
for the more than 24,000 New Brunswickers who are paid the
minimum wage.
Replace the minimum wage with a living wage, phased in over
four years so that anyone working full-time will earn enough
to keep them out of poverty. Work with the small business
sector that depends on minimum wage employees to
determine how best to assist them during the transition from
a minimum wage to living wage.
Raise the social assistance rates for the almost 40,000 New
Brunswickers who depend on this source of income to match
those of Newfoundland
14
.
Eliminate barriers that keep people from entering the
workforce such as the countless claw backs from social
assistance income, such as occurs with earned income below
$20,000 and premature withdrawal of prescription drug
benets.
Expand the number of early childhood education centres
within our elementary schools beyond the six existing
pilot projects as part of a plan to implement a non-prot,
universally accessible quality childcare system.
Establish a public inquiry into the adequacy of retirement
income for all New Brunswickers.
14
http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/1031ENG.pdf
12
http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/1031ENG.pdf
13
http://frontnb.ca/uploads/le/New%20release-Oct%2030%20,2012.pdf
12 Green Party of New Brunswick
If we change... everything changes.
Work in the Legislature to ensure that pensions are not
subject to changes after retirement and restore the accrued
benets for retired public sector workers.
Tackle homelessness with the Housing First
15
model to
provide a coordinated system of care that tackles root
causes not symptoms.
Establish a pilot program to provide housing for rural
seniors who nd it difcult to remain in their family homes
but dont require special care of nursing home assistance.
Within four years, establish pilot housing projects in one
rural community in the south and the north.
The Green Party believes that direct investment in our
children is one of the best ways to move New Brunswick
toward a just and sustainable future.
Education is a primary pathway out of
poverty and the best means of developing
self-condence and an understanding
of the responsibilities of citizenship. It
is critical, then, that our public and post-
secondary school systems are effective and
accessible to everyone. It is essential that our teachers
are given the resources they need to ensure that all of
their students, no matter their abilities, can reach their full
potential.
Tuition-free post-secondary education is an ideal towards
which any society should strive and is our long-term
goal. In the short term, we must reduce the cost of post-
secondary education so young adults are not burdened
with insupportable debt when they leave school.
Ensuring Children Reach
Their Full Potential
15
http://www.caeh.ca/a-plan-not-a-dream/housing-rst /
http://www.caeh.ca/a-plan-not-a-dream/ten-essentials/
13 2014 Election Platform
This time... Vote Green.
A Green Government would:
Provide a prominent role for teachers in the development
and evolution of educational policy and how it is
implemented.
Introduce citizenship studies and outdoor
education curriculum to promote healthy,
active lifestyles and community engagement.
Enhance trades and other skills-based
programs in middle and high schools
and expand apprenticeship and co-op
placement programs.
Expand school-based arts programs including visual, musical,
folk and dramatic arts.
Provide the resources required to fully implement the provincial
inclusion policy and ensure all children can achieve their
full potential. For those children who are unable to function
successfully in the regular classroom even with increased
resources, provide alternative education settings within the
schools.
Institute a family centred literacy program in our elementary
schools, piloted in selected Saint John neighbourhoods to
provide parent and child time at school.
A Green Government would:
Make all provincial student loans, interest-free,
as was done in Nova Scotia.
Reduce the current cap on student debt
(New Brunswick residents) to $20,000.
Extend the grace period of six months from
graduation to one year before repayment
of student loans begins.
14 Green Party of New Brunswick
If we change... everything changes.
The Green Party believes that healthy rural
communities and vibrant urban centres are
essential for our future. Self-reliance and
resilience are built on public assets placed in
the hands of, and dedicated to, the service of
local communities. Healthy communities also
require economies that are locally controlled and
that minimize dependency on external resources.
The New Brunswick Green Party believes vibrant, self-reliant
and resilient communities depend on local governments
having more control over their own destiny.
A Green government would:
Increase the authority of municipalities to generate revenue
and to make decisions regarding development of their
communities.
Require Regional Service Commissions to integrate
management on a watershed basis into their planning
responsibilities.
Building Resilient Communities
Expand the authority of municipalities to retain subsurface
and intertidal zone rights, decide on all development, and
collect economic rents from any resource development
within municipal boundaries.
Expand the options available to rural areas to incorporate
as municipalities so they can make their own decisions
about land use and services and benet from local resource
development.
Enable homeowners on xed incomes to remain in their
homes by de-linking property assessment from the real
estate market. Assessments would increase based on actual
improvements made, or when a house is sold.
15 2014 Election Platform
This time... Vote Green.
The Green Party is committed to living within our nancial,
as well as our ecological means. We believe we can
be prudent, respect nature and ensure everyone
has access to essential public services and fullling
lives. To achieve our objectives, the Green Party of
New Brunswick believes that we need to focus on
policies that affect overall provincial government revenues,
expenditures and debt.
A Green government would:
Establish a new tax bracket for personal income over $150,000
at a tax rate of 21%, while ensuring that people with a personal
income of $20,000 pay no provincial income tax.
Increase the corporate income tax rate from 12% to 16% (Nova
Scotia and PEI levels).
16
Require the provincial government to post the income tax paid
by corporations in New Brunswick.
Have the Department of Finance create and publish a tax
expenditure account to track losses in provincial revenue
associated with tax cuts, tax exemptions, deferrals and credits
in the New Brunswick tax system.
Establish a pollution tax of $10 per tonne of carbon dioxide on
the import and/or production of fossil fuels to support public
transit, energy efciency incentives and those living on low
incomes. This would generate $164 million dollars in annual
revenue.
Increase royalty rates for all non-renewable resources in
the province to capture their full economic value. Introduce
a New Brunswick Heritage Fund where all non-renewable
royalties would be deposited, with the NB government
transferring only ve percent in any one year to general
revenues.
End subsidies and tax credits to the resource sector.
Increase stumpage fees and establish licence fees on Crown
land.
Ensure Everyone Pays Their Fair Share
for the Services We Need
16
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/crprtns/rts-eng.html
16 Green Party of New Brunswick
If we change... everything changes.
Establish border tolls on commercial trafc entering or
leaving the province.
Collaborate with other Maritime provinces to petition the
federal government to adjust the federal per capita monetary
health transfer for age of the population.
Negotiate with the federal government to reform the HST to
remove or reduce taxes on necessities and increase taxes on
luxury items.
Require direct public ownership of critical infrastructure and
phase-out the contracting out of management services for
Crown Corporations such as Ambulance New Brunswick.
403 Regent Street, Suite B-1
Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 3X6
Email: info@greenpartynb.ca
Ofce: (506) 447-8499
Toll Free: 1-888-662-8683