Green candidate Dr. Chris Milburn was recently quoted in a CBC article suggesting that some emergency rooms should be closed. Dr. Milburn was speaking his own opinion as a candidate, as he is welcome to do in the Green Party. He was not expressing an official party position.

Dr. Milburn’s position is not part of the Green platform, but he should be commended for raising sincere concerns about a tough issue, not to gain votes, but because this is something he believes. That’s what the Green Party is all about.

Whether or not ERs are closed, it is clear that in the midst of an economic crisis tough budget decisions will have to be made across the board, including in health care. We have to make sure that we get the most health and wellness for Nova Scotians out of every dollar we spend. If that means keeping ERs open, that’s what we must do. But if that means bringing a community health centre or a family practice to under served communities instead, than we need to stay open to that possibility.

Having worked in ERs as a medical doctor, Dr. Milburn has an educated opinion on this subject. We need politicians that will ask the hard questions and make the hard decisions that need to be made. Sometimes the politically expedient position is not the best for Nova Scotia and must be challenged. I thank Dr. Milburn for his courage to speak the truth as he sees it.

Forward thinking renewable energy policies would create thousands of jobs for Nova Scotians.

This morning I toured Mamanna Renewable Energy in Dartmouth and met some of the folks working there. They manufacture a wind turbine, and also sell solar hot water and other renewable energy products.

They expect to double their workforce and their sales in the next year or two. Unfortunately, the sales for their turbine are mostly exports to other jurisdictions with more progressive policies to support renewable energy.

Nova Scotia has world class wind resources. It’s time for our policies to catch up with the rest of the world. The policy is simple: guarantee producers of renewable energy a fair price for their product. Simple legislation that provided this guarantee would open up a huge market that businesses, landowners, communities, and individuals could all benefit from. It would create jobs in manufacturing, installation and maintenance, financing, entrepreneurship, and more.

Although the feed-in tariff approach is widely viewed as the best approach to develop renewable energy, the Green Party is the only party in Nova Scotia that explicitly endorses this policy. Not only will this legislation build the renewable energy capacity of Nova Scotia, it will also create economic stimulus across the province, particularly in rural areas.

This policy makes sense, and we’ll be doing everything we can to help the next government move in this direction.

This morning we had the opportunity to tour some of the organizations working with poverty and homelessness in Halifax. I spent the morning with John Hartling of Community Action on Homelessness, and Green candidates David Croft (Dartmouth South-Portland Valley), Kris MacLellan (Halifax Needham), and Sarah Densmore (Preston) visiting a number of organizations on Gottingen Street.

This campaign has seen the parties talk about the global economic crisis, but precious little has been said about those living in day-to-day economic crisis. It was a pleasure to hear about the good work that organizations like the North End Community Health Centre, Community Action on Homelessness, and Metro Nonprofit Housing Association are doing.

We can do more for the most vulnerable members of our communities, and we must do more. In the immediate term, we have to start providing core funding to the organizations working to help the homeless. Too many of the social workers I met today were spending their time in the torturous process of grant writing, rather than actually using their training and skills to help those in need. If we are serious about supporting the essential work that these organizations do, we simply must provide them with stable sources of funding.

In the longer term, we have to do more as a province to develop holistic policies. Economic development strategies need to directly address poverty issues. Increasing our food security and our access to healthy local food will stimulate our agriculture sector and reduce health care costs, as well as addressing the challenges of those facing economic hardship. Iniatives focused on energy conservation and renewable energy will create jobs, decrease our dependence on expensive fossil fuels, and decrease the risk of heating emergencies and energy insecurity. This kind of holistic thinking is what the Green Party brings to the political process.

The work to eliminate poverty in Nova Scotia is a tremendous challenge, but it is a challenge that we must rise to meet. We have great wealth in our province, and we must make the political choices to value each person and ensure that we all have access to the basic necessities and the opportunities we need to build our lives.

Greens will be participating in the leaders debate this evening through the online forums at the Chronicle Herald and CBC Live Blog sites. Though we’ve been excluded from the televised debate, we’ll be adding to the conversation in any way we can. I’ll be on the CH site. Come join the conversation!

Opening Remarks from Green Leader Ryan Watson

Thank you to CBC and the Chronicle Herald for hosting this debate, it is my pleasure to participate

What the Green Party is working to bring to this campaign is a focus on systemic issues, and new solutions that can move our province forward. From the global economic crisis to the global climate crisis, from our health care challenges to the hardships faced by our farmers, it is imperative that we understand the systemic context that frames these issues.

Band-aid solutions and political soundbites will not overcome our challenges. But right now we have the opportunity to do more, we have the opportunity to take a bigger view. Right now, in this election we have the opportunity to step forward in a new direction towards a prosperous, bright green future.

If there is one thing that we need from government, it’s the ability to ask the hard questions, and get beyond 30 second answers to work with Nova Scotians on the issues that matter.

Amid hopes that the recession has reached a bottom, the price of oil has quitely crept up to close to $70 per barrel. 60% of Nova Scotians depend on heating oil to keep warm through the winter. What will we do if the price of oil shoots up during the heating season?

The combination of decreasing government revenues, an aging population, and increasing health care costs threaten the viability of our health care model. Adding a few hospital beds or keeping emergency rooms open a few extra hours will not address the root issues. How can we re-imagine our health care system to serve Nova Scotian’s health needs?

These are just a few of the hard questions that we face, not just as a government but as a society.  We are at the end of a cycle and we need new ideas and new perspectives to move forward.  We need to find the new possibilities that can come out of these times of crisis, with innovation and daring.  Nova Scotia possesses a wealth of resources. We can become a model of self-sufficiency and sustainability.  We can build a more sane and productive government.  We can do more, for our environment, for our economy, and for each other.  The Green Party is dedicated to helping bring to Nova Scotia the best possible government.  As leader of the Green Party of Nova Scotia I challenge the province to join me, to do more, to vote Green.

The first televised leaders debate was this evening. The Green Party was excluded.

I stand by my assessment earlier today. This province needs politicians who are steering the ship, not arguing about the positioning of the deck chairs. There is a clear opportunity in front of us, and a clear danger. Without intelligent leadership and management, we will miss the opportunities, and sail straight into the dangers.

The opportunity is staring us right in the face: renewable energy is the industry that can create jobs for thousands of Nova Scotians, reduce our pollution, and bring new life into our economy. We need to seize this opportunity with both hands.

The danger is equally clear. We depend on insecure, polluting sources of energy with volatile prices. For the sake of Nova Scotian businesses and households, we urgently need to reduce this dependence.

The Green plan that will be released later this week calls for immediate action to support the renewable energy industry. The beauty of this opportunity is that it doesn’t require drastic government intervention, and it doesn’t come with a high price tag for taxpayers. Simple regulations will quickly shift the business climate and provide opportunities for thousands of Nova Scotians to participate in a booming renewable energy sector based on a strong business model.

We can do more for our economy, our environment, and our province. We can do more to build our prosperity. Do more, vote Green!

We’re creeping up on 30 candidates as of today, on our way to a full slate of 52  Greens across the province!

If you want to help put a Green option on every ballot in Nova Scotia, please consider stepping forward to be a candidate. Even if you cannot commit much time or energy to the campaign, just offering your name will give thousands of Nova Scotians an option to vote for the Green Party. Of course if you want to run a more lively campaign, that is most welcome!

If you’d like to help us amplify the Green voice in Nova Scotia by putting your name on a ballot, please get in touch with Green Party Managing Director Patrick Webber at patrickwebber@greenparty.ns.ca

Thank you!

I’ve been watching the Legislature in session over the last couple of days. The conversation has been mostly on the economy, and rightly so with the budget to be presented Monday and the global financial crisis hitting hard in regions across the world.

MLAs seem to understand the tools they have to work with, such as infrastructure projects, tax policies, deficit spending (or not), loans and subsidies. But no party in the Legislature really seems to have a vision for the kind of economy they want to build with these tools.

A construction project could consist of repairing a staircase, adding a room, or completely renovating a house. Many of the same tools will be used in any of these projects. The difference is the vision, or the goal that we are working towards. Observing the Legislature, I got the feeling that they were debating whether to use a paintbrush or a screwdriver, without ever discussing what they are actually building.

It’s easy to slip into platitudes about a strong economy, job creation, and prosperity. But all that’s saying is that we’re going to do a good job on this project, it isn’t actually telling us what the project is. What kind of economy are we building?

The Green Party has a very clear answer to this question: our vision is of a sustainable, zero waste economy, fully powered by renewable energy, providing true prosperity to all Nova Scotians. This economy will have a strong base in the local production of essential goods and services, it will be resilent to shocks such as the global financial crisis, and it will operate safely within the ecological limits of nature.

This green economy will not be built overnight. But if we have a vision of where we are going, then we can apply the tools that are avilable to us to make this vision a reality. The time to start is now.

Imagine our province in 20 years. Renewable energy production is distributed across the province, generating wealth for rural communities and energy for our economy. Small farms have multiplied, and provide the majority of food locally. Neighbourhoods are walkable and connected with efficient electric transportation. A renewed rail infrastructure provides long distance travel options. Buses and electric vehicles share the road with cyclists and pedestrians. Our consumption of resources has been drastically reduced, but at the same time our quality of life is increasing. Stronger community ties, more leisure time, and a greater connection to our natural world provide a sense of real wealth that material consumption never could.

This is the Green vision for Nova Scotia. In the coming election we will be bringing this vision to citizens of our province. But more than that, we will be putting forward the simple, common sense policies that will begin to build the future we want.

Our unsustainable system has been built over decades and centuries, and it won’t be transformed overnight. But now is the time to start. Strong policies that give clear signals about where our future prosperity lies will set our economy on the path towards sustainability and our province on the path towards a green future.

The Legislature resumes next Thursday. By all accounts, it looks like an election will quickly follow.

For the Green Party, this is a time to reach out to Nova Scotians with a new vision of possibility for our province. Our province may be on an unsustainable path, but we have the power to chart a new course.

Nova Scotia’s opportunities are immense. To take advantage of these opporunities for sustainability and reliable prosperity we don’t need drastic government intervention or radical policies. There are simple, common sense steps that can shift our whole economy rapidly in positive directions.

Pay small scale producers of renewable energy a fair price. Give local farmers and food producers a boost with policies that energize the local food sector. Reduce taxes on things we want such as employment, income, and small businesses, and tax the things that we want less of such as polution and waste.

Nova Scotia aims to be a world leader in sustainability by 2020 while building our economic strength. But many other jurisdictions have similar goals, and without forward thinking policies we risk being left behind.

It’s time for a breath of fresh are in Nova Scotia politics. The Green Party is searching for candidates and volunteers to spread the Green word. Please join us in this work!

Chris Benjamin’s take on the Nova Scotia stimulus package

Stimulating Ecocide

Now we’re stimulating roads at 20 times the rate we’re stimulating energy conservation. Either the [Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity] Act was a lie, or its authors have amnesia.

The stimulus plan is the latest in this government’s legacy of using platitudes to obfuscate its true intentions. “It’s hard to respond to something when we have so little information as to what this really means,” says Christine Saulnier, provincial director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. “But just funding shovel-ready projects doesn’t do it. All the issues we faced prior to the recession, like affordable housing and childcare, are still there.”