May set on growing Green’s power

TORONTO • Green Leader Elizabeth May pitched her party to voters Monday not as a new government, but as one capable of holding the balance of power responsibly.

May acknowledged the reality of the polls, which peg Green support well behind those of the Liberals and Conservatives, as she launched a platform focused on the environment and social justice.

“I think I am the best qualified to be prime minister of Canada, I will say that out loud, but I’ll also say I don’t think it’s very likely,” she said in releasing her party’s platform at Toronto’s Royal York hotel, surrounded by a slate of local candidates.

“I’m running to elect as many of these wonderful candidates as is possible so that a caucus of Green MPs can assist Canadians, particularly in a minority situation.”

The Greens say every policy in their platform — from the economy to health, foreign affairs, immigration and transportation — is viewed through the lens of the climate crisis.

“(The platform) covers a broad, broad suite of measures,” May said. “Most of what people have heard us talk about so far in the campaign has been related to climate, but look at the many ways in which steps on the climate emergency have an impact on other parts of our ways of life.”

The Greens propose a law requiring a 60-per-cent cut in greenhouse-gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2030, a steeper reduction than Canada’s 30-per-cent target. It would also seek to get to net zero emissions by 2050.

The party says it would ban hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) to extract fuels, approve no new pipelines, coal, or oil or gas drilling, and cancel the Trans Mountain pipeline. By 2030, the Greens want 100 per cent of Canada’s electricity to come from renewable sources and to ban the sale of passenger vehicles with combustion engines by that year.

The Green platform also promises universal pharmacare, eliminating post-secondary tuition, and a guaranteed livable income.

The Greens say the tuition promise will be financed by redirecting money from bursaries, tuition tax credits, and administering student loans.

May said her platform will be fully costed but the numbers won’t be released for another few days because the parliamentary budget office is still working on a couple of its planks.

CHRIS YOUNG/THE CANADIAN PRESS Federal Green party Leader Elizabeth May attends the launch of her party’s election platform in Toronto on Monday. Every policy in their platform is viewed through the lens of the climate crisis, the party says.