TheGreenHub.ca Election Challenge / Day 4

TheGreenHub.ca is publishing articles about green issues affecting the upcoming provincial election in Ontario, concentrating on candidates from Brant and Haldimand-Norfolk ridings.

Candidates have been asked to answer 10 green-specific questions. This is all being done through social media, through the internet, via e-mail.

The poll is a non-partisan one and we are publishing one answer daily, kept to 250 words or less, verbatim and unedited.

To recap, the candidates contacted are: Brant / Brian Van Tilborg (NDP), Dave Levac (Liberal), Ken Burns (Green), Michael St. Amant (PC); Haldimand-Norfolk / Greg Crone (Liberal), Ian Nichols (NDP), Justin Blake (Green) and Toby Barrett (PC).

We will run their answers daily, one question at time, until Friday, September 23, 2010. Each day’s posting will be tacked on the end of the main story, so that a complete compilation will be ongoing.

We have also included some links to video and other online sources for each of the four major parties. That will be included at the bottom of the ongoing main story, as well.

(TheGreenHub.ca is a news and information website serving the area including Brantford, Six Nations, Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk counties, a provincially-designated area called The Green Energy Hub. We have had close to 100,000 visitors to the site since late 2010.)

Follow us on Twitter @the_green_hub and @TheHubman, Facebook at thegreenhub. For questions or comments, please contact Greg McMillan at greg@thegreenhub.ca

DAY FOUR

Question:
What will your party do to encourage the promotion and growth of The Green Energy Hub, which is an area including Brantford, Six Nations, Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk, as designated by provincial energy minister Brad Duguid in September 2010?

Brant Riding

Answers:

Ken Burns / Green
“We support the Green Energy Act, and we will ensure that it is fully and appropriately implemented as it was originally intended. Applications must be processed within 30 days, and the current barriers to connecting micro-generation to the grid must be removed. We will restore and build public confidence in the reliability of the FIT and microFIT programs so that local businesses in the Green Energy Hub will find a market, at home and across the province.

We will insist on meaningful local participation in energy projects, support micro-generation, and community based renewables that generate local benefits. Everyone should have the option to become renewable energy producers, earning income by generating clean, green power for the province.
While I would certainly champion efforts to see as much of that investment come to the Green Energy Hub as possible, there is much more that can be done to realize the benefits of a Green Energy Hub. As much as we have a skilled labour force in our community, we also have a brain trust in the Green Energy Hub. We need to focus on the development of new technologies and innovation in green energy. The colleges and universities are already responding with programs in these areas, and we would continue to foster the growth of these programs and partnerships with local businesses. Through this parallel approach dealing with the present and the future, the Green Energy Hub will see the jobs of today and tomorrow.

Dave Levac / Liberal
“We intend to continue to develop the Green Energy Economy and the FIT and microFIT programs. These initiatives have already stimulated $20 billion in investment and 20,000 new jobs in Ontario. I will continue to work with all the Green Energy Hub partners to draw jobs to our Hub.  (Note from Dave Levac: Minister Duguid did not designate our project as a Green Energy Hub, there is no such designation. He was simply on hand to be part of the announcement, extend congratulations and offer support.)”

Brian Van Tilborg / New Democrat
“We’ll join with our federal cousins in pushing the Harper Conservatives to stop subsidizing Big Oil and instead move those funds towards Green Hubs all over the country where we can then lobby hard for our riding to get a fair share and a fair chance at making the Green Energy Hub work here.
Voters are tired of photo-ops with all levels of governement touting a Green Hub when the jobs aren’t arriving.  It’s been years now and our area is in desperate need of sustainable green manufacturing.
We will also work with the city, county and Six Nations partners to create win-win-win scenarios for each area.  The Samsung deal failed to meet the needs of all our partners.  The green hub is too important to let expensive mistakes like that happen again.  All our partners need to be treated fairly to make sure that green jobs get to our communities.”

Michael St. Amant / PC
No response.

Haldimand-Norfolk riding

Answers:

Justin Blake / Green
No response.

Greg Crone / Liberal
No response.

Ian Nichols / New Democrat
“In order to promote the growth of green energy, we will maintain the feed-in-tariff program for small and community-based projects and have Ontario Power Generation contract out large projects. We will bring 10,700 MW of renewable energy online by 2018.”

Toby Barrett / PC
No response.

TheGreenHub.ca Election Challenge Archive
Day 1
Day 2
Day3

Key links and sources for Ontario Election 2011

Snapshots
Party platforms / leader profiles
About Brant
About Haldimand-Norfolk
Online resources for Brant riding

Detailed Party platforms (Drop-down PDF pages)
Green
New Democrat
Liberal
PC

Miscellaneous news
TVO / Energy and the Ontario election
Interactive chart /  The citizens’ agenda / Energy in Ontario
About Brant riding
Brant Green candidate Ken Burns supporting Green Energy Act
Brantford Expositor reporter Hugo Rodrigues Twitter compilation

Compiled by Greg McMillan of TheGreenHub.ca