Success in the Green Economy requires an integrated and focused approach on the part of government, education and business. Do you believe shifting toward a Green Economy should be a priority with government? What specific measures would a government under your party take to position B.C. and Vancouver Island to compete effectively in a Green Economy?
Shifting toward a Green Economy needs to be a top priority. Ending fossil fuel subsidies and shifting those incentives to spur innovation is where we begin. COVID-19 has changed our world, and we need a plan for economic recovery. Clean investments and new technologies that create good paying, long-term jobs should drive this recovery. Our CleanBC program is a good starting point, but we need to go so much farther.
With the Greens, I will:
- Create a Just Transition program that guarantees workers jobs in the clean economy
- Establish a clean jobs plan to help us recover from COVID-19
- Use this plan to get people back to work immediately fixing BC’s natural world
- Create jobs that help communities withstand climate disasters like droughts and wildfires
We can do better than we have. We don’t have to pick between the environment and the economy. In fact, the new economy is the Green Economy and we need to get on board or get left behind.
I believe that it is crucial to transition our province and community to a greener economy and agree that government needs to take the lead on ensuring this can be done in a way that leaves no one behind. With the implementation of CleanBC there are many steps we are taking to ensure this transition is possible and if elected we will be ramping our measures.
One example of how we have ensured that government policies drive a green economy would be the requirement that all vehicles sold in BC be zero emissions by 2040. By being one of the first jurisdictions to put this requirement into legislation, we have driven change and distribution in BC from vehicle manufactures. This ensures that they are prepared to provide our province with the vehicles we need, whereas other jurisdictions who have no such regulation, or are late with these steps will be at the back of the line when it comes to accessing this vehicle stock. This is just one example of how we have ensured our province is at the forefront of a green economy.
Candidates responses to this question have been added in the order received. Go to the Election Questions list to see questions that have been submitted to the Forum.