The Way Ahead for New Brunswick…
DAVID COON COMMENTARY
02 Dec 2013
How do we build this new green economy? We must explicitly choose the exit ramp off the highway to ruin, for the road that leads to sustainability and fairness.
The Green Party is the party of hope, community self-reliance, and transformation. The sadsack agenda of the Alward government is the last thing we need in New Brunswick. It is taking us nowhere positive.
Growing up, most of us are taught to share, clean up after ourselves, think of others, help those in need, be kind to animals, live within our means, and make safe choices. It’s these values that should permeate our society and economy, but we have lacked the leadership to make it so. Instead, the parties in power adopt the agenda of others, whether they be the captains of industry, oil and gas companies, or credit rating agencies. Most everything then becomes secondary to money interests and the lust for re-election.
Since becoming Green Party leader, I have been appalled to learn how the most vulnerable in our society are neglected. All manner of strategies, from poverty reduction to mental health, are collecting dust on the shelf so they mean nothing to the lives of the people and families who struggle to get through each day . This includes families with children with special needs, children and adults suffering from mental illness, those living in poverty, women who have suffered violence perpetrated by men, and people trapped by addictions.
The vulnerable lack real champions in the Legislature, because too many political parties see few votes in putting themselves out for the most vulnerable, or fear losing votes if they do.
I believe fiercely in the idea that the measure of a society is based on how it treats its most vulnerable members. And I would add to that – how it relates to the natural world the air, the water, the land, and animals and plants. For me, these are questions of morality. To listen to the Alward government, and to those who preceded him, you would think they are principally matters of money.
The Green Party’s vision is for an environmentally sustainable and just New Brunswick, where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential no matter what cards they have been dealt in life. And we need to reconcile with the First Nations in our province in a manner that is consistent with the intent and spirit of the Peace and Friendship treaties that govern our relationship. This societal project will be a beacon for young people looking for hope and meaning in an increasingly insecure world.
The Alward government’s economic strategy of assisting corporate interests to profit from the plunder of nature and the pollution of our air and water will not serve us well. Given the reality of the climate crisis, we need a low carbon economy, not one that is ever more dependent on oil and gas. We need an economy designed to meet people’s needs, for that is the purpose of an economy in the first place. And we need local economies to sustain local communities, in both rural and urban New Brunswick.
We must build the new economy from the bottom up, around sustainable green jobs, the seeds of which already exist in New Brunswick today. We already see these jobs in organic agriculture and local food, in smart grid technology, in education and training, in the ICT sector, in clean tech manufacturing, in renewable energy and energy efficiency, and in sustainable forest products. These are some of the economic sectors that will provide the jobs we need to live well if they are firmly embedded in the social fabric of our communities and tread lightly on the Earth.
Imagine kitchens filled with local organic food; building materials produced without clearcutting; homes which cost a pittance to heat; thousands of community-based renewable power generators feeding a smart electrical grid; universally accessible child
care in every school, a convenient system of public transportation, community health centres staffed by health professionals working collaboratively with family doctors; a vibrant local arts and cultural scene; and reconciliation with First Nations so we can travel the path to sustainability together.
This new green economy can provide decent satisfying livelihoods for all, enabling people to thrive as engaged members of healthy communities. It will be built around enterprises that work with our communities to advance the public good. Small and medium-sized businesses, cooperatives and social enterprises will be its foundation. Resource use and management would be community-based, providing the basis for a rural renaissance.
How do we build this new green economy? We must explicitly choose the exit ramp off the highway to ruin, for the road that leads to sustainability and fairness. Caring and sharing must light the way.
We can begin with an import replacement strategy that identifies what we can produce and provide in New Brunswick, rather than sending our money out of the province to acquire goods and services. Buying goods and sourcing services locally keeps money circulating in our economy, creating jobs here, rather than elsewhere.
Everyday acts of grocery shopping and eating dinner create jobs throughout New Brunswick when the food is produced and processed locally. Heating our homes with wood pellet burners and heat pumps manufactured in New Brunswick create jobs here.
Building new green infrastructure, such as a public transportation system and NB Power’s smart grid will create jobs and business opportunities here. A smart electricity grid coupled with high speed fibre optics enables the dramatic expansion of renewable electricity generation, creates demand for energy storage technologies, and energizes the demand for electric vehicles. NB Power’s expertise would be in demand around the world.
Where would the capital come from to finance this transformation? We would create investment tools such as community bonds and local investment funds designed to slow the flight of wealth from our province, making it available for economic development in our own communities. We see a leadership role for our credit unions and caisse populaires in creating local pools of investment capital.
New public sector investment would flow from an economic transformation fund, financed by a dedicated carbon surcharge on the oil, coal and natural gas entering our economy, whether
by pipeline, ship or train.
A special levy on the property taxes paid by big box stores would also support the fund. Significantly increased resource royalties could be paid into a new Resource Legacy Fund, which would also support the transition to a new green economy.
Watching the goings on in the Legislative Assembly during Question Period is a stark reminder for me that we need political transformation as well if we are to pursue the road to sustainability. MLAs statements are tightly scripted, they automatically vote with their Leader, and there isn’t actually any real debate.
MLAs simply proclaim the positions of their parties rather than working do create the best laws possible to serve the public good. And of course the make-up of the seats in the Legislature does not reflect the proportion of the votes the parties get, leaving some parties out altogether.
We can fix our democracy.
The Legislature must stop being treated as a mere formality and resume its rightful place as the legislative arm of government. If MLAs were freed to vote as representatives of their constituents, guided by their conscience, they would be more engaged in debate and decision-making, which would give us a better outcome. This would require MLAs to consult with their constituencies, to be more informed about the bills that come before them, and to participate in the work of the legislature. We all would be better served if this were the case.
A voting system based on proportional representation – the norm in most of the world -is needed to ensure the number of seats awarded to the parties following an election reflects the percentage of vote they received.
That way, everyone’s vote counts. Representation in the Legislature would more closely reflect the diversity of political views held by New Brunswickers and the opportunities for coalition governments could present themselves.
The Green Party has a bold vision for the future of our province. We believe it is a vision that is shared by all who want to be part of a society based on caring and sharing, living in harmony with nature, and securing a decent future for our children and grandchildren.
David Coon is the Leader of the Green Party of New Brunswick.
