P.E.I. Green platform contains $151 million in new spending in year one
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CLYDE RIVER, P.E.I. — P.E.I. Inexperienced Chief Peter Bevan-Baker says his celebration’s platform will tackle the province’s challenges in well being care, housing and local weather change.
The Greens say their plan will price taxpayers an extra $151 million within the first yr of their mandate alone, if they’re elected on April 3.
This quantity solely contains operational spending priorities. Capital spending – longer-term infrastructure initiatives similar to new buildings – will price an extra $46 million over the primary yr of the funds.
Altogether, this might add as much as $197 million in new spending within the subsequent yr.
Of the $151 million in operational spending, the largest bills are in well being care ($78.5 million) and in affordability measures ($35.3 million).
In a speech March 23 to celebration supporters at his marketing campaign workplace in Clyde River, Bevan-Baker mentioned the celebration’s platform assumes {that a} first Inexperienced funds can be a deficit funds.
Bevan-Baker mentioned that is mandatory to handle a “lack of funding over the past couple of a long time” by previous governments.
“We anticipate that this can run a deficit, although the PC and Liberal governments have persistently and wildly underestimated revenues coming into the treasury lately,” Bevan-Baker mentioned at a information convention.
“It is truly very arduous to say precisely whether or not will probably be a deficit and, whether it is, how a lot that may truly quantity to.”
Costing for the platform additionally incorporates $48 million in new income as a consequence of a health-care settlement between the province and Ottawa.
The Greens had introduced, early within the marketing campaign, plans to spend $385 million over 5 years to construct new public housing.
A marketing campaign consultant clarified this dedication would come with a earlier $135-million capital funds dedication by the incumbent Progressive Conservative authorities for public housing builds.
As such, this $385-million dedication isn’t included within the Inexperienced platform’s costing.
Listed below are the important thing commitments of the Inexperienced platform:
Well being care
• Make Well being P.E.I. an impartial crown company and take away “political interference.”
• Spend $37 million to extend wages and advantages for frontline health-care workers.
• Broaden the scope of observe for nurse practitioners; permit doctor assistants to work in P.E.I.
• Work with UPEI to create a doctor assistant coaching program.
• Reopen psychiatric pressing care clinics (PUCCs) in Charlottetown.
• Conduct a feasibility examine on the UPEI college of medication.
• Permit pharmacists to prescribe contraceptives, order blood work.
• Fund extra help workers for docs and nurse practitioners.
• Implement midwifery providers.
• Present free entry to digital care apps like MAPLE.
• Implement administration coaching for all Well being P.E.I. managers.
• Open extra walk-in clinics.
• Enhance medical residency seats from 5 to 10.
• Work with medical faculties to hurry up licensure of internationally skilled clinicians.
• Create a brand new detox facility in Summerside.
• Ensure overdose prevention web site in Charlottetown has wanted assets; conduct session with group.
Residence care and seniors
• Spend $18 million to enhance prescription drug protection.
• Spend $4 million on repairs and renovations for seniors public housing.
• Spend money on extra public long-term care beds.
• Legislate obligatory nationwide long-term care requirements.
• Create a restorative care unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
• Set up an impartial seniors’ advocate.
• Enhance funding for seniors independence initiative.
• Broaden homecare providers for seniors.
Housing and affordability
• Spend $385 million over 5 years (together with a $135-million PC authorities dedication from 2023-2025) to construct publicly-owned housing.
• Spend $100 million ($25 million within the first yr) to transform current buildings to public housing.
• Set up a rental registry.
• Make low-interest loans out there to builders.
• Spend $17.7 million to launch a pilot fundamental earnings assure involving 4,000 Islanders.
• Enhance minimal wage “instantly” to $15.20 and lift it by $1 per yr till it reaches a residing wage.
• Enhance social help charges, index them to inflation.
• Index tax brackets to inflation.
• Create a tax credit score for lower-to-middle earnings staff to enhance the Canada Employee Profit.
• Advocate for the elimination of Confederation Bridge and Wooden Islands ferry tolls.
Schooling and childcare
• Enhance wages for early childhood educators.
• Create a capital fund to assist finance new childcare centres.
• Permit faculties extra management over their budgets.
• “Really construct the faculties beforehand introduced,” together with Stratford highschool.
• Cowl pupil debt funds for all 2024 grads and for post-secondary graduates incomes $40,000 per yr or much less.
Land, water, and local weather change
• Conduct a public inquiry into P.E.I.’s Fiona response.
• Full land-use plan of P.E.I.
• Introduce shoreline safety laws; eradicate “grandfathering” insurance policies permitting growth inside buffer zones.
• Make land transactions extra clear; permit Lands Safety Act to be enforced.
• Encourage farm succession planning via lease-to-own fashions, tax incentives.
• Enhance spending on transit.
• Construct new wind and photo voltaic farms with municipalities as part-owners; set up extra photo voltaic panels on government-owned buildings
• Implement a zero emission car mandate.
Variety, inclusion and accountability
• Implement the Common Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• Present $100,000 for the Indigenization of UPEI.
• Develop an anti-racism technique.
• Implement all suggestions of the anti-racism desk.
• Permit everlasting residents to vote in municipal and faculty board elections.
• Decrease the voting age to 16.
• Implement proportional illustration.
• Implement results-based monetary administration to make spending extra clear.
Stu Neatby is a reporter with SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. He may be reached at [email protected]
