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PROVINCIAL ELECTION: GPO Leader visits Prince Edward-Hastings
By Jerome Lessard
The Green Party of Ontario (GPO) hopes to earn sustainable votes in Prince Edward-Hastings during the next provincial election.
GPO’s leader Mike Schreiner, who was on a two-day visit in the riding with the party’s local candidate Treat Hull, described Prince Edward-Hastings as the “target riding” for the Greens.
“We are confident that we can get our candidate Treat Hull elected here in Prince Edward-Hastings as well as one or two others through the 18 ridings as MPPs,” said the GPO leader, during an interview in Belleville Monday night. “Prince Edward-Hastings would be an historical opportunity for us in Ontario to change the political discourse in this province and to start putting forward political discussions about sensible solutions for our communities in order to build a sustainable future for our children.”
Public hearings scheduled for next week into the construction of a nuclear generator at the Darlington plant – which is expected to generate up to 4,800 megawatts of electricity for delivery to the Ontario grid – and the unfolding crisis in Japan made the two Green Party representatives vocal on the future of nuclear energy use in Ontario.
“We are calling for a suspension of the Darlington hearings in light of what’s happening in Japan,” said Schreiner. “The hearings don’t look at Canada’s approach in nuclear safety in a broad context in light of the significant risks. We should have a broader look at safety issues. One of the lessons that we are learning from what’s happening in Japan is that when an issue that is beyond the planned designed failure happens, how is it going to affect the safety of Canadians? These questions are not addressed in these hearings and we are concerned about that.”
Hull, GPO’s energy critic, said the party will be putting forward a plan in their platform that demonstrates there are more viable alternatives to building more nuclear facilities in Ontario.
“We are not advocating for the immediate shut down of nuclear plants in Canada as they provide about half of our basic power in Ontario,” said the Prince Edward-Hastings Green candidate. “But we believe that in the next 10 years, when most of our plants will come to an end, that there should be alternatives that would not make nuclear necessary.”
Schreiner was elected leader of the Green Party of Ontario on November 14, 2009. An advocate for independent businesses and sustainable communities, the GPO leader is known for his leadership in co-founding the award-winning Local Food Plus organization and brings a proven track record in business and leadership roles to the GPO leadership. Actively involved in the GPO for the past six years, Schreiner was most recently the GPO candidate for the Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock by-election.
Looking forward to the next provincial election, Schreiner said the biggest things that differentiate the GPO from other parties is its intention of investing in the jobs of 21st century.
“Especially in supporting small and medium size businesses and family farms, as they are the back bone of our local economies,” said the Green provincial leader. “We want to bring tax and regulatory reforms to support local businesses as well as safe and affordable energy plans, But first and foremost we believe that we have to invest in conservation and energy efficiency as well as reducing demand in order to deliver sustainable savings for families and businesses.”
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