ACTION PLAN 2023
The Green Party of Manitoba believes that a healthy environment, healthy people, a fair economy, and a dynamic democracy lay the foundation for a sustainable future. In this spirit, we are excited to present the four cornerstones of our action plan for the 2023 election:
- Fighting the Climate Emergency
- Upstream Approaches to Health and Healthcare
- Making life more affordable with a Basic Income Guarantee
- Reforming our democracy for fairness and sustainability
These cornerstones form the base of the Green Action Plan for Manitoba – supported by our policy foundation and providing priorities to build upon with our extended platform.
#1 Cornerstone - Climate Emergency:
The Green Party of Manitoba recognizes the Climate Crisis for the Emergency that it truly is, impacting every aspect and segment of society. Green jobs form the basis of addressing both mitigation and adaptation, reducing both the scale and impacts of climate change that we face.
The Green Party of Manitoba will work with 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. Enhance connections to grids west, south and east. Encourage 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.
- Livestock production contributes 27% of Manitoba’s agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Manitoba has already been successful in welcoming plant-based producers and processing to our economy, supporting sustainable job creation. We will support the transition away from industrial animal agriculture and incentivize small-scale animal producers and growing plants for human consumption.
#2 Cornerstone - Health and Healthcare: Upstream Approaches
The Green Party of Manitoba recognizes the importance of focusing on preventative, upstream approaches to health, with an emphasis on the social determinants of health, especially poverty. A Basic Income Guarantee is at the heart of our health platform addressing poverty, homelessness, addiction and crime.
- Green MLAs will pursue a wider definition of universal health care, including vision care, dental care, mental health care, more thorough and responsive prescription coverage, disability supports, and harm reduction.
- We will establish a permanent citizen’s assembly with the goal of improving preventative healthcare outcomes and reducing critical care costs.
- We will recruit more physician assistants, nurse practitioners, public health dietitians, physical activity educators, mental health and addictions counsellors, eco-crisis therapists, and other preventative healthcare professionals.
- We will improve access to care by requiring clinics to register local patients without restriction to help allocate resources appropriately and manage community loads. We will also ensure that Jordan’s Principle is honoured at all levels of healthcare.
#3 Cornerstone - Basic Income Guarantee
When Manitobans struggle to pay rent, feed their families, leave difficult jobs, or escape abusive relationships, they and their families face increased risks of health challenges, productivity and job loss, homelessness, addiction, criminal activity, and violence. The Green Party of Manitoba sees the rising costs of living and housing as an urgent issue that is causing mounting social and economic costs.
- Green Party MLAs will work to end welfare in Manitoba by advocating for the social safety net of a Basic Income Guarantee, one that is income contingent and incorporates incentives to work.
- A Basic Income Guarantee would provide a well designed, efficient, response to the climate emergency, emerging infectious diseases, and the threat of AI causing rapid and unpredictable disruptions in our economies.
- A Basic Income Guarantee would reflect Manitobans’ shared value system in which we all deserve the dignity of being housed and fed; The Green Party will build a system that fosters a culture of helping people in need rather than erecting barriers.
#4 Cornerstone - Democratic Sustainability
Without a trustworthy, reliable, agile, and engaged democracy, we cannot meet the needs of a complex society facing many challenges from homelessness to healthcare to the climate emergency. The Green Party of Manitoba envisions bringing Manitobans together in a Citizen’s Assembly to examine means of improving our electoral system, including:
- Implementing proportional representation in Manitoba to give citizens a broader expression of electoral choices, increase participation, reduce polarization, and increase consensus building and transparency.
- Reducing maximum allowed annual political donations to $500/year from $5,000/year
- Eliminating advertising that gives an unfair advantage to incumbent MLAs and the party in power and banning resource intensive and wasteful lawn signs.
- Lowering the voting age to 16 to encourage lifelong commitment to democratic participation.