Read the Green Party of Ontario's 2011 election platform.

BGM Policy Resolutions Part 1: Economy and Finance

Submitted by Dave Bagler on Mon, 06/28/2010 - 13:39

OK, this week I'll be going through the policy motions. Congratulations if you made it though lasts weeks posts. Like the governance resolutions there are five sections that I will tackle one day at a time. I'm starting with the Economy and Finance section as they're are the resolutions listed first on the website. Here is a link to Vision Green for reference. Also if you haven't gone through yet take a minute to look over th e governance resolutions:

Resolution code	Resolution title and my thoughts on the resolution
G10-p02	Green tax reform
G10-p02	This is a big resolution that I suggest you go through. I like the idea of taxing pollution and land use rather than income but I'd like to see how this would be tailored so it didn't hurt farming or those who live in rural areas. I think this one deserves a workshop.
G10-p04	Industrial Materials Strategic Reserve
G10-p04	I don't disagree with the principal behind this resolution (find out what rare metals we need and develop strategies to obtain and stockpile them) but I think (and I could be wrong) that this would be a very costly project so I'm going to vote no.
G10-p24	Bank of Canada
G10-p24	Just print all the money we need and we'll be out of debt, interest free? Sounds awesome! Yes it does. Of course it makes us look incredibly naive. We're a serious political party not the Canadian Action Party. Keep in mind that the more money you print the less your money is worth. If this resolution passes then the Green Party will have to abandon any claim to fiscal responsibility. Red flag, red card.
G10-p26	Long Term Disability Insurance Reform
G10-p26	Brings long term disability under the Insurance Companies Act. It ensures that these benefits are paid out even in the event the employer ceases to exist. This one makes sense to me.
G10-p27	Public and Private Pension Changes
G10-p27	I read this one and it looked good but to be honest I didn't really get why. Check out the discussion on this resolution, Jean-Luc Cooke provides an excellent description of what this resolution does and why it is important. This resolution ensures that registered pensions migrate to independent trusts. It's a very good idea.
G10-p29	Green Bonds
G10-p29	This resolution calls for a program to issue Green Bonds as a financial instrument for raising the capital needed for renewable energy projects. I'm for engaging the public in energy production and I'm for encouraging the public to purchase bonds to pay for renewable production. However if the public is paying for these projects the public should own these projects. I like this resolution in theory but I'd like to see some constraints on who benefits from the bond purchases so I'll vote to workshop (if I can do that, I haven't voted yet, I hope that's an option).