Provincial Green party leader Mike Schreiner visits Muskoka

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With a Federal election less than six weeks away, the Ontario provincial election on Oct. 6 has taken a necessary backseat. However, the Ontario Green party leader, Mike Schreiner, was in Muskoka on Friday to lend his support to local provincial candidate Matt Richter.

“(Matt) is just a fantastic candidate who I think has a real good shot at putting together a campaign to win,” said Schreiner. “One of the things I find is wherever we have candidates running in areas …where a healthy environment is especially important to maintaining economic prosperity and where there’s a strong sense of community … that tends to be where the Green party does very well.”

In the last provincial election, held in 2007, Richter placed fourth in the riding with nearly 13 per cent of the popular vote, doubling the votes the Green party received in Parry Sound-Muskoka in the 2003 election.

Although yet to win a seat, the Green Party of Ontario, which was established in 1983, has grown to field candidates in every riding and reached eight per cent of the popular vote province wide in 2007.

“I think 2011 is the year we can break through,” said Schreiner. “We’ve pulled in ridings as high as 33 per cent, and so that puts us in contention to win. I have no illusions that we’re going to win 20 seats, but I think it puts us in a position to break through.”

Campaigning on a platform of sustainability, the Green party has a focus on supporting 21st century jobs through regulatory and tax reforms for small and medium-size businesses, family farms, and also through opportunities for youth in apprenticeships, co-ops and mentoring programs, said Schreiner. The Green platform addresses concerns about energy affordability by reducing need, through investments in energy efficiency and conservation. The rising costs of health care are also reigned in, in a sustainable way, with a long-term approach of preventative care. This includes access to local, healthy food, clean air and clean water, while improving seniors’ home care, transitional and long-term care, all with a goal to keep people out of the most expensive care facilities, our hospitals.

Though most green energy, with the exception of solar, is touted by the party as less expensive than new nuclear energy, even solar avoids the long-term financial commitment of a $20-billion price tag that comes with building a new nuclear facility, said Schreiner. However, he assures that doesn’t mean hydroelectric-generating stations will pop up at every waterfall in cottage country.

“I don’t think you can ram green energy onto communities without their participation,” he said. “The province needs to transition away from coal and I have some significant concerns about the costs associated with large-scale new nuclear.” Schreiner cited numerous green energy technologies, including biomass, biogas, landfill gas, wind, solar, and hydroelectricity. “There’s a whole host of renewable technologies that are affordable that we can use to power our future.”

The Green party’s biggest concerns with the current provincial Liberal government is its mismanagement of funds, such as in the eHealth scandal, that have helped lead to a high provincial deficit, said Schreiner.

“Interest payments now represent over $10 billion a year of our provincial budget,” he said. “I would rather see our hard-earned tax dollars spent on public services that benefit our communities.”

Along with holding the line on spending growth, Schreiner said he believes Ontario could support a carbon emission tax, similar to the one B.C. has in place on carbon-content fuel products, to help pay down the deficit.

He added the Greens would also like to address what he calls the “democratic deficit,” with more government transparency in the form of consulting contracts available online, streamlining freedom of information requests and engaging citizens in the decision-making process more often, all with a goal to strengthen Ontario’s democracy.

Not only does Schreiner believe the time is right to send the first Green MPPs to Queen’s Park, he believes the time is right for Parry Sound-Muskoka.

“I think by Parry Sound-Muskoka electing a Green MPP, it’s an amazing opportunity to tell not only Ontario and Canada, but literally the whole world that this is a place that promotes sustainability; this is a place that is a beautiful place to come visit,” he explained.

With an aging population, a high percentage of youth choosing to leave our communities in search of employment, and an economy dependent on a healthy environment, Schreiner believes the Green platform will resonate with voters in the Parry Sound-Muskoka riding.

“It’s not easy defeating a former premier’s son (Conservative candidate and current Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Norm Miller), we have no illusions about that,” he acknowledged. “But we’re going to run a strong campaign to win. And regardless of the outcome, I think we’re going to put forward sensible solutions and pragmatic ideas that will benefit political discourse in Ontario and drive the public policy agenda in a positive way.”

The Green Party of Ontario will be holding its annual general meeting and conference in Huntsville this year, giving Parry Sound-Muskoka residents an ideal venue to learn about the party. It takes place on April 15 to 17 at the Delta Grandview Resort. Everyone is welcome. Details about the agenda and how to register are available online at gpo.ca/agm11.