Building a prosperous green economy

Ontario’s economy is currently structured to run on cheap energy. High energy prices have made the cost of doing business in Ontario simply unsustainable. In fact, since the McGuinty Liberals were elected in 2003, Ontario has lost over 300,000 traditional manufacturing jobs.

The Green Party of Ontario believes the most sensible solution to ending the recession and building long-term prosperity is to create 21st-century green jobs, today.

Green Jobs & Green Energy

Ontario’s greens support tax reforms and sensible investments that provide rewards for local businesses and entrepreneurs to create good green jobs.

We support making investments in energy efficiency because it is the least expensive and most financially responsible way to deal with our energy needs.

Specifically, Ontario’s greens will advocate for the following:

Green Tax Cut
It’s a simple idea: If you’re someone who lives green, as many already do, you’ll be rewarded with lower taxes. It is a permanent incentive to go green – it is sustainable stimulus that will spur a wave of job creation in green technologies, products and services, finally placing them on a level playing field.

Green Jobs Program
To create the jobs of the 21st-century today, we will establish a fair program to help Ontario’s manufacturers invest in green technologies and facilities to produce new products and services. The program will have transparent and consistent rules, not backroom deals, so that business and investors have the predictability they need to invest in Ontario over the long term.

Green Building Program
We believe an investment fund for home owners, businesses and municipalities that makes buildings more efficient should be established. This will create thousands of jobs today that will save us money in the long run by reducing our dependence on gas, electricity and oil.

Green Energy Sector
We will support community power projects that make it possible for all Ontarians to become green energy entrepreneurs, earning income by putting clean, green power into the grid. Unlike the current Liberal government, the Green Party will not cut backroom deals with large multinational corporations that limit Ontarian's access to the grid.

Fostering strong, sustainable communities

The Green Party of Ontario supports communities that put families and neighbourhoods first, by being more family friendly and investing in better transportation and local education.

We believe that a strong independent business sector is the backbone of our local economies and communities.

Support Local Business & Communities

Ontario’s greens believe we need to move away from the ‘bigger is always better’ mentality that supports backroom deals for multinational corporations, like the recent Samsung deal. Instead, we need a level playing field for local, small and medium-sized businesses and family farms whose owners and employees live and work in our community. We will advocate for:

Buy Local Campaigns
We must change Ontario’s purchasing policies to encourage the purchase of local food, products and services from local vendors. We will support business improvement association buy local campaigns, farmers markets and festivals that promote heritage and culture, strengthen our community and our local economy.

Smart Regulations
We believe regulations need to be reviewed to allow small and medium sized businesses and family farms to be placed on a level playing field, by considering the size and scale of an operation, not standardized rules written for large companies. Smaller companies need regulations that make sense – not a one-size-fits-all approach that buries them in red tape.

Complete Communities
Ontario’s greens support changes to the Provincial Planning Act to encourage the development of communities where people can live, work and play.

Transportation
We support investment in public transit including better rail service between Ottawa and Southern Ontario.

Schools as Community Hubs
Greens will fight for restoring the role of local schools as local community hubs. Too many schools have – or are threatened to be – closed. These are valuable public assets that should be preserved to foster strong communities and a healthier society.

Promoting health and well-being for all

Greens take a broad approach to well-being that emphasizes healthy people, healthy communities and a cleaner environment.

We believe that preventing illness is just as important as treating illness and that it will ultimately save money in the future. Greens want to strengthen our public health care system by expanding its services while reducing costs.

Prevent & Tackle Root Causes of Illness

The Green Party understands that a penny spent today on illness prevention, means a dollar saved tomorrow in health care costs. It’s time to focus on preventing illness – not just treating poor health. We will advocate for:

Health Promotion
Ontario’s greens call for an increase the budget for the Ministry of Health Promotion and will ensure that funds are spent on community programs that support healthy living.

Quality Care for Everyone
We will call for investments in seniors’ care, expand the scope of practice for nurses, fund licensed complimentary health practitioners and end the privatization of home care to improve health outcomes using cost effective measures.

Clean Air, Food and Water
We support programs that provide incentives for business and individuals to be good stewards of our environment. We support compensating farmers and land owners for producing environmental goods and services that benefit all Ontarians.

Thank you for reading.

If you believe, as I do, that Ontario needs a fresh approach at Queen’s Park, send a clear message on March 4th.

It’s time. Vote Green.