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TREATY ONE TERRITORY, WINNIPEG, MANITOBA – September 21, 2023 – Green Party of Manitoba Leader Janine Gibson today outlined the party’s strategy for responding to the Climate Emergency.
Speaking at a news conference in Winnipeg’s Vimy Ridge Park, Gibson said none of the parties likely to form government “has a clear understanding of the demands the climate emergency will make on all of us. They are sleepwalking into the future at a time when we need resolute leadership to mobilize the considerable resources of this province to help the world meet an existential threat.”
“This must change,” Gibson said. “Responding to the climate crisis will take more than the work of a few, or even a few hundred bureaucrats. It will take more than the efforts of entire governments. It will require the mobilization of the resources of our society. It demands action from all of us.”
“We Greens agree with Climate Action Manitoba. For a resilient future, Manitoba must feed ourselves, and shelter ourselves without fossil fuels. We must focus on shelter; we need to heat all our old and new buildings, affordably without natural gas. We need to feed ourselves locally without fossil fuel fertilizers or fuels; and we need to move our people and goods without fossil fuels.”
If elected, Gibson said she would advocate for budgets that prioritize “greening the provincial economy” and for the meaningful involvement of all sectors in reviewing existing plans and implementing measures to reduce provincial greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening infrastructure to deal with all weather, fire & natural disaster emergencies.
“I will insist that all sectors have a seat at the planning table – business, labour, First Nations, municipal governments, educational institutions — all have responsibilities — all must have a say,” Gibson said.
Gibson said Manitoba’s provincial government must work with our transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, retail, and energy industries to:
• Reduce GHG emissions and create jobs while providing incentives for adopting electric vehicles, improving EV charging network coverage particularly in rural and remote communities, electrifying existing bus fleets, electrifying agricultural equipment and exploring alternatives such as drone technology, and funding expanded bike lanes and other human-powered transport.
• Make Manitoba a green energy hub of Central North America, providing the lowest GHG emissions power. This includes enhancing connections to grids west, south, and east and encouraging solar and wind developments with net metering and long-term agreements.
• Improve product stewardship by discouraging the use of single-use materials, implementing deposit programs, increasing availability and trust in recycling programs, decreasing food waste, and implementing community scale composting across the province.
• Support the transition away from industrial animal agriculture and incentivize small-scale animal producers and growing plants for human consumption. This is because livestock production contributes 27% of Manitoba’s agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
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FOR INQUIRIES OR INTERVIEW REQUESTS PLEASE CONTACT:
Paul Graham
Communications Coordinator
info@greenparty.mb.ca
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