GPM Platform - Table of Contents:
CREATING COOPERATIVE COMMUNITIES
The Green Party supports strong, healthy, and inclusive communities by promoting social and economic justice. Manitoba Greens believe that strong communities are the best way to ensure a healthy and sustainable society. We believe communities should be empowered to make decisions that affect them and that all communities should have the resources they need to flourish. The Green Party of Manitoba supports the following policies:
Universal Basic Income
Economic democracy is required for political democracy. Manitoba Greens believe that no Manitoban should live in poverty and that all Manitobans should have access to adequate income to meet the basic needs of life. A Universal Basic Income (UBI) is one way to implement the principle of economic security. Studies have been done that suggest a UBI could be implemented without harming average Canadians. A UBI would not constitute a 'handout' but rather an investment in our people, to ensure that we are all able to survive with dignity. A UBI is not taxable and would be provided to all on an individual basis without discrimination, conditions, or claw-backs. A UBI provides the basis for economic development and would not reduce the incentive to work, which are primarily social - not economic.
Manitoba Greens, if elected, will work to:
1. Open a broad-based discussion on poverty in Manitoba, its causes, and solutions that will work in the long run;
2. Recognize an official Poverty Line based on the low income cut-off (LICO);
3. Implement a Universal Basic Income (UBI) benefit for all Manitobans that is tied to the LICO;
4. Reduce over-lapping bureaucracies administering multiple benefits (Employment Insurance, Employment Income Assistance, etc) in favour of a single UBI benefit;
5. Retain support programs and services for Manitobans with special needs.
Housing for All
Manitobans who are unable to find safe, adequate, and suitable housing struggle to maintain their health, find and keep employment, and complete their education. A place to call home should be available to each Manitoban.
The Green Party would work with community-based organizations such as the Right to Housing Coalition, the Social Planning Council, and neighbourhood associations to determine needs for social and supportive housing, involving local communities in decisions affecting their housing and social needs.
Manitoba Greens, if elected, will work to:
1. Ensure that the goal of 300 subsidized units per year for five years, as recommended by the Right to Housing Coalition, is met;
2. Promote creative and innovative forms of housing, such as pocket suites, co-housing, conversion of existing buildings, integration of housing with community spaces for recreation and services such as community kitchens, child care, and health clinics;
3. Ensure that all social housing is built or renovated to high standards of sustainability and energy efficiency;
4. Develop community-based training programs to increase employment opportunities in building, renovating and maintaining housing stock.
Restorative Justice
"Voters would be well served to remember that criminals will be committing crimes, victims will be victimized and police will be doing the best job they can regardless of who gets elected. There are, of course, ways of lowering crime but they are messy and expensive and have more to do with poverty and social dysfunction than the number of uniforms on patrol." (Dan Lett, Winnipeg Free Press, May 1, 2007)
The current model of justice is based on punishment and deterrence, both of which are failing to prevent crime and are over-loading our prisons to the economic and social detriment of Manitoba. We need a new way of looking at and administering justice in Manitoba, one that is based on healing and learning for victims, offenders, and communities, and includes all in looking for solutions to harmed relationships. The Manitoba Greens believe that a model of restorative (healing- and learning-based) instead of retributive (punishment-based) justice, coupled with better socio-economic conditions for Manitobans, is a good way to make real progress on reducing crime and criminal behaviour.
Manitoba Greens, if elected, will work to:
1. Begin shifting from a punishment-based model of justice towards a restorative, learning model of justice;
2. Increase community involvement in finding solutions to offences through victim-offender mediation (VOM), community conferencing, and circle-sentencing programs;
3. Look at the systemic causes of crime (poverty, lack of opportunities for education and employment, inadequate housing, struggling communities) not just the symptoms of these underlying problems when designing policies and programs to address them.
Participatory Processes
Participation in our communities enhances social cohesion, sense of well-being, and the quality of decision-making. Manitoba Greens see the value in local community centres and favour the grassroots model of community centres, instead of the centralization model promoted by the Public Use Facilities Study (PUFS) done for the City of Winnipeg.
Manitoba Greens, if elected, will work to:
1. Encourage citizen participation in local and community governance through a legislated 4-day work week (32 hours);
2. Require Green MLAs to hold regular public meetings in their constituencies;
3. Develop a community-based (bottom-up) budgeting process to replace the current model of top-down economic policy and budgeting;
4. Ensure that community centres in all communities are well and equitably funded and remain open, instead of moving to the centralized mega-community centre model.
Food Security and Safety
To ensure that all Manitobans have access to adequate, nutritious food, Manitoba Greens support the development of a sustainable, organic agriculture and food system and a basic income for all Manitobans that would allow all people to access this food. Food is a fundamental human right and the basis of a healthy society. Manitoba Greens see the linkages between proper nutrition and health outcomes for Manitobans. There is a link between cancer rates and the amount of carcinogens in our food supply. Transitioning to a localized, organic food system can redress this.
Manitoba Greens, if elected, will work to:
1. Provide farmers with transitional funding and support services to implement organic agriculture on their farms;
2. Remove subsidies from industrial agriculture and put them towards local organic agriculture initiatives;
3. Prohibit agricultural biotechnology in Manitoba based on the precautionary principle;
4. Begin providing locally produced organic foods in all Manitoba public schools with a goal of 100% local organic in 15 years;
5. Provide tax breaks to companies selling primarily organic foods;
6. End the promotion of ethanol and biofuels in Manitoba for anything more than limited, on-farm application;
7. Fund community composting and ecological sanitation as viable options not just demonstration projects.
Next: A Sustainable Energy Future
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