Green Party of Manitoba
Response to the Manitoba Wildlands Pre-Election Survey March, 2007
Climate Change
- Will your government establish third party, independent auditing of climate change actions/ reporting by government and industry in Manitoba?
...Yes
- Will your government mandate renewable portfolio standards and renewable energy quotas with specific targets and deadlines for Manitoba?
Perhaps
- Will your government continue to use the definition for protected areas reflected in public policy, legislation in Manitoba since 1990?
?
- Will your government uphold the principles of the First Nations protected areas MOU?
Research
- Will your government establish new protected areas before a new forestry license, mill or hydro (dam and transmission project) license is issued?
If this is best
- Will your government make public all materials used or filed in public hearings, legislative committee hearings, or similar events?
Transparency is key to democracy.
- Will your government post and update all boil water orders in Manitoba online?
Soft path analysis primary
- Will your government act on recommendations of the 2005 Lake Winnipeg Implementation Report, with public reporting?
?
- Will your government act on recommendations in the February 2007 Lake Winnipeg Stewardship report, with public updates?
Where ecologically beneficial. Not manure spreading increases recommendation is though.
- Will your government continue the current pause in development in the east side 'planning area' until communities' lands plans are in place?
YES Development - not the right term.
- Will your government appoint an Environmental Commissioner and Auditor for Manitoba, having both a public policy and regulatory auditing role?
YES Guardian of the Commons; review all budgets, legislation, etc re: impacts on commons (land, water, air).
- Will your government put in place an Environmental Bill of Rights for Manitobans?
YES And seek Constitutional Ecological rights.
- Will your government make the Clean Environment Commission independent of the minister, by including it with the Office of the Environmental Auditor?
YES See #57 above.
- Will your government increase staff to enable evidence and proceedings from CEC hearings to be readily available to the public?
YES Seek to place licensing decisions in hands of independent, randomly selected
(with criteria) Citizens' Environment and Health Assembly (CEHA).
The Green Party of Manitoba is focused on ecological sustainability and social justice. We support the spirit and intent behind all of the se proposals. The Manitoba Greens are the only party seeking to implement a moratorium on new hydroelectric generation projects pending a full cumulative environmental assessment of impacts of Manitoba Hydro on Northern peoples and ecosystems.
Manitoba Greens strongly support a soft energy path focusing on demand-side management, not the un-ending search for more supplies of natural gas, hydroelectricity, etc.
Thank you for raising these important questions. I will be interested to see
the responses of all. If any of my answers/comments are/were unclear, please
do not hesitate to contact me or other Green Party of Manitoba executives.
Yours Truly,
Andrew Basham