Policy for a Society Guided by Ecological Wisdom

Ecological Wisdom is a key Guiding Prinicple of the Green Party of Saskatchewan.

Ecological Wisdom:
Human societies must operate with the understanding that we are part of nature, not separate from nature. We must maintain an ecological balance and live within the ecological and resource limits of our communities and our planet. We support a sustainable society that utilizes resources in such a way that future generations will benefit and not suffer from the practices of our generation. To this end we must practice agriculture which replenishes the soil, move to an energy efficient economy and live in ways that respect the integrity of natural systems.

A Green Party of Saskatchewan Government will:
· Implement groundwater monitoring to provide reliable information on water quality and levels in aquifers and their variability.
· Start monitoring water withdrawals from industry and irrigation.
· Begin to collect and analyze regional health care data looking for abnormal health trends so as to identify any environmental causes within the region.
· Ban the cosmetic use of pesticides.
· Create new provincial parks to aid in conservation efforts.
· Increase the provinces recycling capacity by investing in new recycling centers and developing an efficient rural recycling collection program.
· Begin a cumulative impact assessment of all oil and gas activity in the province to understand the impact this industry has on our wildlife, vegetation and residents.
· Require that before a permit for a new oil or gas well is granted, the company has decommissioned and reclaimed an inactive oil or gas well.

A Green Government starts with electing Saskatchewan's first Green MLA! On September 21st, vote Green. A voice of reason, a vote for change.

A grassroots policy plan for the environment:

Creating a Citizens Science Council
Green Party of Saskatchewan MLAs will advocate for the creation of an independent Citizens Science Council that will be charged with providing objectivity, accountability and transparency in the researching of industry claims.

Green Incentives & Vendor Responsibility
The Green Party of Saskatchewan supports the implementation of provincial Incentives for “green research” to be done on such topics as renewable energy, smart growth, energy conservation, and environmental restoration. Green Party of Saskatchewan MLAs will advocate that legislation be enacted requiring all vendors of common consumer goods to accept back the packaging and used goods for re-use, recycling or appropriate disposal and that such henceforth be the policy of the Green Party of Saskatchewan.

Enforce environmental protection laws
Green Party of Saskatchewan MLAs will work to review our justice system to ensure that laws will be enforced that protect citizens and the environment, and where inadequate laws exist, Green MLAs will introduce adequate legislation.

Fluoridation
The Green Party of Saskatchewan takes the position that medicating the entire population through the water supply, especially with a controversial compound of dubious origins, is unwise and undemocratic. The Green Party of Saskatchewan resolves:
That the government direct the Department of Environment to detect and measure environmental fluorides and to trace them back to their sources.

Resource Extraction
The Green Party of Saskatchewan offers the following proposal:
That provincial infrastructure and other subsidies to multi-national mining and oil companies cease, and that any provincial involvement in these industries be dictated by the results of rigorous environmental impact studies and the net economic benefits returned to the people of Saskatchewan. Public debt would be measured against the royalty and taxation revenues from these sectors, as well as the benefits of similar public spending in other sectors.

Stop Export of Bulk Water
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Green Party of Saskatchewan legislate no new interbasin transfers of water or the bulk purchase of water for the purpose of export outside Saskatchewan.

Environmental Monitoring & Compliance
RESOLVED that the Green Party of Saskatchewan place this higher on its priorities and that more money, people and energy be put into making sure all data is collected, regulations are complied with and that efforts are made to clean up current environmental liabilities.

Support for Endangered Spaces Program
RESOLVED that the Green Party of Saskatchewan would support and work with other organizations for the designation and legislative protection for these lands, and
that the Dore-Smoothstone Area be one of those first designated protected areas.

Water rights
BE IT RESOLVED that the Green Party of Saskatchewan supports the rights of the citizens of Saskatchewan and the world by declaring that:
1.water is a common heritage of human kind, and therefore
2.earth's fresh water belongs to all living species and therefore must not be treated as a commodity to be bought, sold and traded for profit as an economic good.
3.local human communities have the primary responsibility to guarantee that water is treated as a common heritage.
4.water is a fundamental human and social right, and therefore
5.the right to water in quantity and quality sufficient to life is an individual and collective inalienable right which cannot be submitted to any constraint of social (sex, age, income) political, religious or financial nature.
6.the cost to satisfy such a right for all must be financed by the collectivity.
7.water is essential to the security of our communities and societies and therefore,
8.its ownership, control, delivery and management belong in the public domain.
9.citizens must be at the heart of the decision process in water affairs.
10.water management policies must ensure social equity such as gender equity, public health and environmental equity.
(From a United Nations Declaration on Water Rights)

Deposit on plastic bags required
Be it Resolved that the GPS will develop and implement legislation to initiate a mandatory environmental deposit of 25 cents on every new plastic bag distributed in Saskatchewan. The funds generated by this deposit will be used to develop plastic bag reduction, collection, re-use, and recycling information, services, and programs across the province

Selective logging rather than clear-cut logging in forest harvest
BE IT RESOLVED that the practice of clear cut logging, where the natural forest is destroyed and replaced with a monoculture forest which is unsuitable for many of the plants and animals which need a natural forest for habitat, be replaced with selective logging, which is compatible with the natural ecosystem.

Apply precautionary principle to nano-technology
Be it resolved that before the release or introduction of any nano-particles into consumer products or nature, a full environmental / health impact assessment be conducted on each nanotechnology creation to determine if it could have negative impacts.

Resource Extraction and Development Policy - Impact Assessment & Consultation
BE IT RESOLVED that the GPS advocate that all resource extraction projects be assessed for environmental and social impacts, in full consultation with the affected local First Nations and Metis Nation communities, and other local stakeholders and that a project only be allowed to go ahead if it adheres to the GPS' principles and benefits local First Nations and Metis Nation communities and other local stakeholders.

Recycling
RESOLVED that the Green Party of Saskatchewan support a ban on disposal of recyclables and encourage strong the recycling of such useful material in Saskatchewan and elsewhere.

Climate change policy:
A Green Government will
·Promote and support the development of energy conservation and renewable energy technologies, and programs to install these technologies for those that cannot afford to on their own.
·Reverse metering in both rural and urban areas, leading to an emphasis on wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy sources.
·Increased funding for public transit.
·Building a high speed rail network between major urban centers. The reduction of heavy traffic loads will improve road conditions, and the better efficiency of railways will reduce emissions, benefitting the environment.
·Introduction of a carbon tax to help make alternatives more affordable.

A Green Government starts with our fitst Green MLA in Government. On September 21st, vote for Victor Becker Lau. No to Nuclear, Go with Green.

A grassroots policy plan for climate change:

Greenhouse gases
Be it resolved that the Green Party of Saskatchewan support immediate action to reduce and limit the release of greenhouse gases in Saskatchewan.
Resolved that the Green Party of Saskatchewan support and extensive energy conservation program and the creation and implementation of alternative methods of energy production.

Oil Be it resolved that Green MLAs advocate that the province spend money on researching and developing alternatives to the automobile for mass public transport.
Be it further resolved that the provincial government end its subsidies to the oil industry, especially to oil mega-projects.

Reducing Car Ownership through Shared Access
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the GPS will:
• Officially recognize the key role of car-ownership in car -dependency, sprawl, and climate change, and develop programs to get the citizens of Saskatchewan to shift to various shared access alternatives.
• Work with the four basic shared- car-access industries (taxis, car-rental, ride sharing, and car sharing) to help them grow and to work seamlessly together to allow Canadians to see them collectively as an alternative to ownership.

Revitalizing Rail
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the GPS will maintain existing rail infrastructure and significantly expand and revitalize the rail system for transportation of both people and freight.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the GPS will shift a major portion of the funds currently being used for the expansion of roads and highways be transferred to the rail system and alternative transport.

Oil Patch
Be it resolved that the green party calls for a moratorium to be put on all future oil development until a cumulative impact statement has been done that will put some kind of parameters on future developments that take place. This would include tar sands, conventional oil, methane field development and all other oil development.

Climate Change
RESOLVED that the Green Party of Saskatchewan work with other organizations to take immediate actions in Saskatchewan and Canada to set up structures that will support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in this province. These actions should be centred around energy conservation, renewable energy, low emission transportation systems, demand side management and support for employment transition programs.

Promoting green energy
BE IT RESOLVED that a Green Party of Saskatchewan government would enact and promote policies that would seriously address the problem of global warming and climate change including conservation measures as well as promote alternative green energy. As well, in view of the seriousness of this problem and the fact that time is of extreme importance, the Green Party of Saskatchewan act in such away outside of the government to promote activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote alternative green energy.

A green energy plan
BE IT RESOLVED that a Green Party of Saskatchewan Government would develop a Green Energy policy that protects the environment and creates sustainable and meaningful employment. This policy will place primary emphasis on energy conservation and the development of decentralized electrical generation from sources such as wind, solar, biomass, micro-hydro, and geothermal.

Making “Saskatchewan” Mean “Quality”A Green Party of Saskatchewan government will support a series of initiatives which would result in the creation of a “Quality Saskatchewan” program which will promote Saskatchewan agriculture, industry, products, institutions and communities nationally and internationally as being certified high quality, environmentally responsible and equity, public health and environmental equity.”

Publicly funded buildings
BE IT RESOLVED that the GPS will only approve funding for new public buildings that meet or exceed LEED building standards.

Bio-Fuels development
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the GPS will not support any ethanol production project that uses feed or food grains as its primary input for ethanol production.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the GPS will support the creation of ethanol using non-food or agricultural and forestry waste sources, such as cellulose, so long as the source provides a reasonable energy return on investment.

Education
BE IT RESOLVED that the GPS will be involved in the education of the public through accessible information packages and services for retrofitting and construction of buildings as well as the available government grants.