From Elizabeth May, federal leader of the Green Party

There’s good reason for you to feel disillusioned with politics. We face runaway climate change, pipelines, student debt and skyrocketing fees, unemployment and underemployment, unaffordable housing, an unconscionable gap in quality of life between Indigenous people and non­-Indigenous people, and a wealthy country where citizens still live in poverty, yet youth are offered the same stale ideas from parties presenting themselves as the only choice. While the old­line parties fight over the turf at the cutting edge of the status quo, the Green Party is offering new ideas. We need you to vote because not voting is a vote for the status quo.

I’m pleased to share some of these bold new ideas with you.

Climate Change

Climate change is both the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity that Canada has ever faced. While the consequences of failing to address climate change would be catastrophic, our transition to a green, sustainable economy will create good local jobs, shorter commutes, more livable cities, and cleaner air and water.

Our plan is to move to the virtual elimination of fossil fuel use in Canada by mid­century. Our short­term target is 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, while we are calling for 80 percent reductions below 1990 levels by 2050. These are ambitious targets, yet the scale and urgency of this challenge demands nothing less. As Canadians, we will rise to this challenge and, in doing so, create a strong, stable, and prosperous economy today and for our children and grandchildren tomorrow.

Given climate realities and volatile international oil prices, expanding oil sands production is simply not on. Most of the bitumen in the Alberta oil sands must remain in the ground.

Climate and energy are two sides of the same coin. We urgently need a comprehensive, science­based national climate strategy to address rising sea levels, drought, extreme weather events, changing rainfall patterns, increased forest fires, melting permafrost and crumbling Arctic infrastructure.

A robust Canadian Climate and Energy Strategy begins with eliminating all fossil fuel subsidies. Canada currently provides more than $1 billion dollars a year in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, meaning, on a per capita basis, Canadian taxpayers provide more handouts to the fossil fuel industry than almost every other country in the G20.

Next, we must work together to put a national price on carbon. In the complete absence of federal leadership, the provinces have taken up the challenge of climate change on their own. Although some progress has been made, notably in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec, this patchwork of climate strategies is an inefficient way to tackle an issue that faces all Canadians. The Carbon Fee and Dividend Plan is the smartest, most efficient, and most effective way to shift away from burning fossil fuels. We will place a fee on carbon, and pay the funds it generates directly to every Canadian over age 18 in the form of an annual carbon dividend. This plan will defend our climate, diversify our energy mix, grow our economy, and ensure energy security for Canadians.

The Carbon Fee and Dividend Plan is the smartest, most efficient, and most effective way to shift away from burning fossil fuels. We will place a fee on carbon, and pay the funds it generates directly to every Canadian over age 18 in the form of an annual carbon dividend. This plan will defend our climate, diversify our energy mix, grow our economy, and ensure energy security for Canadians.

Pipelines

Every pipeline – whether it’s Enbridge’s Northern Gateway, Kinder­Morgan’s expansion through Burnaby Mountain to the Burrard Inlet, Energy East, or Keystone XL, are all about one thing: getting raw, unprocessed bitumen to coastlines.These pipelines and supertankers are premised on a risky economic strategy. We have already seen how Harper’s strategy of putting all our eggs in the bitumen basket has hurt our economy. On top of that, one accident could cripple the entire billion dollar fisheries and tourism industry upon which our coastal communities depend.

The Green Party opposes any and all pipeline proposals that involve the shipping of diluted bitumen. Moving diluted bitumen is just not worth the risk. Green MPs will continue to challenge the deeply flawed pipeline review process and to seek ways to stop this risky pipeline.

Post­-Secondary Education

Whether Germany, Austria, Norway, Sweden, or Finland, many of the world’s most successful economies have proven that expanding the public education system to include post­secondary increases prosperity, equality, productivity, and economic competitiveness.

We will start investing in Canada’s future by abolishing tuition fees for students without adequate financial means, including removing the inadequate 2% annual cap on increased funding for post secondary education for all First Nations and Inuit students. Through consultation and collaboration with provincial governments and universities and colleges, by 2020 we will abolish tuition fees for post­secondary education and skills training for Canadians, guaranteeing that income is never a barrier for

qualified students. It is widely recognized that Canada’s success depends on an educated population, yet we burden youth with tens of thousands of dollars in student debt.
As our plan to abolish tuition fees is being phased in, we will invest in the success of current students, jumpstart the Canadian economy, and give our graduates a hand­up by implementing a debt­forgiveness program. Our plan will eliminate any existing or future student federal debt above $10,000. We will abolish charging interest on new student loans and will increase available funding for bursaries.

Youth Unemployment and Training

It is unacceptable to the Green Party, and should be unacceptable to every Canadian, that the unemployment rate among Canadian youth is twice the national average. The actual youth unemployment rate is likely much higher as many young people have given up on finding that first job and are no longer counted.

Investment in Canadian skills, training, and education is a proven means to create real jobs, and is the backbone of Canada’s future as a sustainability superpower. But for many young people just getting out of school, they face a Catch­22. They cannot get hired in new jobs because they lack experience. But unless they get that first job, they’ll never have experience. Greens will create a national Community and Environment Service Corps, which will provide $1 billion/year to municipalities to hire Canadian youth to do work that needs to be done.

Housing is simply unaffordable for too many Canadians. The Green Party is committed to equitable and accessible housing for all. To this end, Green MPs will implement a National Housing Strategy based on Housing First principles, quickly moving people experiencing homelessness and providing additional supports as needed. As part of this strategy, we will advocate for increased funding and ambitious affordable housing targets, both the construction of new units and the restoration of existing housing.

Affordable Housing

Greens will leverage all policy tools at our disposal to facilitate this expansion in federally subsidized housing, including by providing significant subsidies, capital grants, credit and loan guarantees for non­ profit housing organizations and cooperatives, and needed changes in tax and mortgage insurance regulations. We will also provide support for energy­efficient upgrades to social housing, and provide rent supplements or shelter assistance for an additional 40,000 low­income households per year for the next decade.

Support strong First Nations and Indigenous communities

We need to move to implement the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The path to justice, healing and reconciliation begins with accepting a painful truth: the horrors of the residential school system constituted a policy of cultural genocide. There is no way to undo the damage nor to

compensate for the grief and loss of many generations of children and families. The truth is hard to absorb, but absorb it we must.

True reconciliation will take time, and while we work to build a new, nation­to­nation partnership based on mutual respect and understanding, there are urgent and important steps that must be taken by the federal government to put the relationship on firmer footing.

We begin by recognizing indigenous rights and title, and will negotiate in good faith to settle land claims, establish treaties and self­government arrangements, and move to repeal the Indian Act should that be the consensus of First Nations. We will respect the rights of First Nations to take leadership of development projects on their traditional territories.

Creating opportunity for indigenous communities and their people means ensuring access to quality public services for all First Nations, Metis and Inuit. It requires adequate funding for housing, education, and health care, both on and off reserves. We will work to expand rural health care infrastructure by investing in telehealth and mobile medical units, to ensure indigenous communities have access to critical care.

The ongoing crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women must be urgently addressed. We will launch a national inquiry and work to ensure that structural violence against indigenous communities is addressed.

We also recognize the critical importance of defending languages and cultures, and will provide new federal funding for culturally appropriate education in traditional languages.

Poverty

The Green Party plans to introduce a Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI) to ensure no Canadian falls below an income level necessary to live with dignity. A GLI would provide a regular payment to every Canadian, at a subsistence level above the poverty line, to meet Canadians’ basic needs while encouraging additional income generation. For higher­income Canadians, the amount of the GLI is merely taxed back in whole. A GLI would empower those living in poverty and free service providers to focus on the root causes of inequality. We believe it is time to advance bold ideas like a GLI. Nevertheless, it will take time for study, reflection, and support from all levels of government. We are committed to opening dialogue on the idea, while pursuing short­ term measures to make progress immediately.

We need you to vote. Find a friend who didn’t vote last time, and get them to vote too. I encourage you to go to the returning office even ahead of the advance polls. You can be sure to be registered and even vote a​ny day until advance polls start on Thanksgiving. The unfair elections act will make it harder for students to vote, so please go early.

You have the power to turn these bold ideas into our shared reality. I know that we share the profound faith that together, through hard work, compassion and cooperation, we can build a better future. When youth vote, everything changes.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share some of our ideas with you.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth May

Photo Credit: Patrick Doyle / The Canadian Press