Green Party unveils historic platform to propel Ontario into the future

QUEEN’S PARK — Today at Queen’s Park, Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner released his party’s People Powered Change platform for a forward-looking Ontario. The platform includes nine fully costed commitments and a vision for Ontario that will make for a cleaner, healthier and more equitable way forward.

“The status quo parties are putting window-dressing on old ideas that have failed to address the challenges we face. Today I am proud to put forward real and practical solutions to create jobs that protect the people and places we love,” said Schreiner.

The signature piece of the party’s platform is a plan to embrace the twenty-first century clean economy by supporting jobs in cleantech, advanced manufacturing, and a $4.18 billion Green Building and Business Program. Schreiner also announced the Greens will push Ontario to join the global movement to commit to a 100% renewable energy supply by 2050.

“We need to skate to where the puck is going, and not where it’s been. The other parties are clinging to an old economy, but we see a better way forward – one where we tackle climate change, lower energy costs and spark a whole new generation of clean, well-paying jobs that will serve our children well into the future,” added Schreiner.

Instead of pouring billions of dollars down the nuclear drain, the party is proposing to cancel the unFair Hydro Plan and save money by purchasing low cost water power from our neighbours in Quebec and Manitoba. But the Greens’ platform is about people as much as it is about planet, with visionary ideas that the other parties simply ignore.

“We will address the housing crisis by mandating that 20% of units in new housing builds be affordable. We will cut the red tape for people in poverty by implementing a  Basic Income Guarantee. We will transform our healthcare system to be one that focuses as much on preventing illness as it does on treating it with a historic investment in mental health care,” said Schreiner.

Accompanying Schreiner at the launch was Robert Kiley, Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Ontario, and Green Party of New Brunswick MLA, David Coon, one of the first Greens to be elected to a provincial legislature,

“David is proof that we can do politics differently when people vote for what they believe in. I really believe Ontario is on the cusp of joining New Brunswick, PEI, and BC in electing Greens into office,” said Schreiner.

The Green Party is running a full slate of candidates in this election, with a record high 52% women candidates running for the party in 2018.

Read the platform at gpo.ca/our-platform.