Cannington Greens

IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct 24, 2020 Saskatchewan Needs Wetlands Protection Policy Saskatchewan is the only province without a Wetlands Protection Policy. It’s time... that Saskatchewan follows the lead of our neighbours in Alberta and Manitoba and develop a more balanced mitigation policy, one that offers protection for municipalities, producers, and society. We live in an incredibly beautiful and unique province., beams Naomi Hunter, Leader of the Saskatchewan Green Party. But more importantly our waterways and grasslands are needed in the fight against the Climate Crisis. We need a government who will value natural spaces, not just the resources extracted from them. When wetlands are drained, we lose the benefits they provide of clean water, flood and drought protection, and recreation opportunities. In late 2019, the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency (WSA) began consulting stakeholders on a new Wetland Conservation Policy for agricultural land that would allow drainage to occur, but with limits designed to ensure preservation of wetland benefits. The biggest deficiency of WSA’s policy is the provision allowing landowners to drain smaller wetlands in exchange for implementing alternate conservation measures, such as planting winter cereals or protecting other natural areas. While it’s great that they are talking about conserving other areas, that is still not the same as actually conserving wetlands. To put this in a Saskatchewan perspective, it would be like saying, There's nothing here but wheat and canola farms. states Hunter. But in reality we are much more diverse. People know that we all contribute to a healthy Saskatchewan and should also see that wetlands are their own unique part of the ecological world and need distinct protection. The Saskatchewan Green Party will introduce within the first 100 days of being elected, a Wetlands Conservation Policy that doesn’t fall short of what is actually needed. As well, we will introduce legislation to protect our grasslands. Upon election, the Saskatchewan Green Party will keep: *Crown grasslands publicly-owned and protected from development, including former PFRA and provincial pastures. *Halt the sale of public land with ecological value including Crown lands that, until removed by recent Order-in-Council, had been protected under the Wildlife Habitat Protection Act. *Introduce legislation to Strengthen the Environmental Assessment process to better involve the public and protect the remaining grasslands from development. We will bring forward legislation to Protect native prairie, including monitoring and enforcing Conservation Easements preventing breaking of these lands. Once native prairie is broken it cannot be restored. I'm a farmer and my Dad always taught us 'it's easier to do something right the first time, than to fix it later.', states Hunter. Let's get it right, our children need us to show them the way. For more information please contact: Naomi Hunter Saskatchewan Green Party Leader 1 (306) 561-8880 [email protected] Victor Lau Deputy Leader SGP 1 (306) 737-5345 [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE October 17, 2020 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2020 If the Sask Party can over spend Billions of dollars on roadways, highwa...ys and corrupt land deals, then our Green Party government can well afford to eliminate poverty immediately. states Naomi Hunter, Leader of the Saskatchewan Green Party. The Saskatchewan Green Party is pleased to re-announce it’s major platform plank of instituting a Guaranteed Livable Income of $2000/month for every citizen of our province. We would boost the Welfare Rate to $2000/month transforming social assistance into SAIE (Sask Assured Income for Everyone) while also increasing SAID (Sask Assured Income for Disability) by adding $2000/month to the current benefit. The Saskatchewan Green Party feels that every citizen of our great province should benefit from full economic income security. By reforming welfare to be a universal income security program, accessible to everyone with less criteria for inclusion, our Green Party government would remove the stigma and ensure poverty is finally eliminated in Saskatchewan. According to Poverty Free Saskatchewan: The poverty threshold for a family of four in Regina was $44,833; for a person living alone it was $22,416. 48 per cent of children in female lone-parent families and 36 percent of persons aged 18-64 not living in families lived in households with incomes below these thresholds. For seniors aged 65 plus, the poverty rate was 4.6 per cent. While updated data do not include information for the fifty thousand plus persons living on reserves, incomes are especially low among the Indigenous population of the province. - Paul Gingrich, University of Regina Our Saskatchewan Green Party SAIE and SAID programs would ensure single individuals receive $24,000/year and the ability to earn more without claw backs until a high income threshold is reached. This would ensure a family of four well over $48,000 (assuming two adults, two children). Universal Basic Income is absolutely essential, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing climate emergency. If not now, when? states Victor Lau, Deputy Leader. For more information please contact: Naomi Hunter Saskatchewan Green Party Leader 1 (306) 561-8880 [email protected] Victor Lau Deputy Leader SGP 1 (306) 737-5345 [email protected]

We are dedicated to building a thriving and healthy Saskatchewan for our children and their children. That means we are committed to long-term, practical solutions for a sustainable and prosperous future. To accomplish this, we must have the courage to confront the major challenges we face: a flawed political system, fiscal peril, job and food insecurity, growing income inequality, a cumbersome approach to health care, the climate crisis, and ecological decline. The Green Par...ty represents a new approach: an opportunity to change, for the better, our politics, our communities, and our economy. The Green vision reflects sustainability, social justice and respect. We believe that our people have the ingenuity and the will to build a prosperous and just society, with an economy that provides work for all, while respecting the natural world and our place within it. Real change engages all the possibilities of who we are. Saskatchewan Green Party Naomi Hunter Victor Lau www.saskgreen.ca/donate https://youtu.be/YAzcuKymTRs