In my work with the Green Party I’ve come across some people who think that the NDP’s are a sound environmental choice in this election simply because they list a few things in their policy geared toward this issue. They do not put the environment first, they put unions first, uranium mining first and import of US toxic waste to Canada first.

If you have the chance please read the Media Release I wrote and sent out this morning:

A Greener Campaign

(January 18, 2006, Toronto) Campaign brochures landed in the mailboxes of many Parkdale-High Park residents today. In this last week of campaigning, candidates know it’s critical to make an impact. While several parties claim to make environmental issues a priority, a quick look at the method and means of printing these brochures only helps compound the fact that the Green Party does more toward a sustainable environment than any other party.

Parkdale-High Park Green Party candidate Rob Rishchynski ensures his campaign is living up to the environmental standards that often define his party. “Our campaign materials are produced using recycled papers and waterless printing processes. All campaign lawn signs are collected and re-used.”

In an added boost to the party today, The Sierra Club of Canada rated the Greens’ platform highest among all five parties in its commitment to the environment. “The Green Party really improved its platform since the 2004 election, with a greater sophistication in its policy…it has the strongest set of recommendations for environment and sustainability”, said Elizabeth May, Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada.

No other party appears to have a comprehensive strategy for reaching its environmental goals. Nor, in the case of Parkdale-High Park, has any other candidate but Rishchynski paid attention to the little things that matter, like ISO 14001 certified printing, energy conservation and using recycled materials.

Rishchynski knows it’s these very things that will make an impact with residents and business owners in the community, and he’s certain his party can offer real solutions for the environment while improving Canada’s economic outlook. For your copy of the brochure or to learn more about Green Party policies please visit www.parkdalehighparkgreens.ca

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Also, if you have the opportunity, visit the Green Party blog, where I pulled the following:

The Green Party is unequivocally opposed to subsidizing car companies such as Ford and GM – which have the highest CO2 emissions of any major car companies worldwide
The Green Party is unequivocally opposed to construction of new nuclear power plants
The Green Party is unequivocally opposed to exporting uranium for nuclear weapons
The Green Party is unequivocally opposed to clear cutting
The Green Party is opposed to the commercial seal hunt and would cut government subsidies to it
The Green Party is unequivocally opposed to importing toxic waste from the United States to incinerate in Canada.

The NDP Record:

The NDP government in BC supported the clear cutting of Clayoquot Sound
The NDP government in Ontario supported the construction of the Darlington Nuclear Power Plant
The federal NDP supported $100 million in subsidies to Ford in the Fall of 2004 and $200 million in subsidies to General Motors in March 2005 to protect CAW jobs, but GM announced 30,000 layoffs for North American workers in November 2005
The NDP accepts exporting uranium without guarantees that these exports are not used to create weapons of mass destruction;
The NDP always puts unionized jobs ahead of the environment. Which is worse: putting business interests ahead of the environment or unions’ interests ahead of the environment? Answer – both are creating an ecological debt for our children.
The NDP instigated the fall of the Liberal government in November 2005 before the most important conference in my lifetime – the conference to negotiate the follow on agreement to the Kyoto Protocol. All the opposition parties put short-term political interest ahead of the long term interest of the planet and future generations.

Guess which Party made the following statements or actions:

“Environmentalists are the enemies of progress” (NDP Premier in BC)
The largest mass arrest in Canada’s history – arresting grandmothers, students and teachers stopping logging trucks from clear cutting old growth forest in Clayoquot. (Under an NDP government).
In power, the NDP in Ontario, BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba has never implemented proportional representation.
What party pressured the leader’s Chief of Staff to resign because he personally opposed the commercial seal hunt in Newfoundland? (Answer: NDP – Rick Smith as Layton’s Chief of Staff was pressured to resign in 2004).