Greens call for multi-party effort to fund transportation without Hydro sell off | Unpublished
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Mike Schreiner
Toronto, Ontario
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A leading advocate for independent businesses, local food and sustainable communities, Mike Schreiner is well known for his leadership in co-founding the award-winning Local Food Plus organization. He brings a proven track record in business and non-profit leadership roles to the Ontario political scene. Schreiner was elected leader of the Green Party of Ontario (GPO) on November 14, 2009. Schreiner, a 43-year old father of two, started his career in the Guelph region as an entrepreneur and advocate in the local food movement. As co-founder of WOW Foods, an award winning local organic food distribution company, Schreiner worked for over 10 years to connect local farmers with consumers in the GTA and Guelph. His business was awarded the Citizen’s Bank of Canada Ethics in Action Award for socially responsible business and the Toronto Food Policy Council’s Local Food Hero Award. He is also co-founder of Earthdance Organics, a Guelph-based food production business that supplied area health foods stores and farmer’s markets in the early 2000s. Building on that success, he helped establish Local Food Plus (LFP), a non-profit that brings farmers and consumers together to promote financially, socially and environmentally sustainable local food systems. While at LFP, the organization won the Canadian Environment Award for Sustainable Living, a Green Toronto Award of Excellence--Health Category, a Green Toronto Award of Excellence--Market Transformation Category and NOW Magazine’s Best of Toronto Award for best new environmental initiative. Family and community are important to Mike. His wife Sandy and their two daughters are active, spending their free time gardening, hiking, fishing, cycling and volunteering in community activities.

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Greens call for multi-party effort to fund transportation without Hydro sell off

June 1, 2015

(Queen’s Park): GPO leader Mike Schreiner sent open letters today to the Premier and the opposition leaders challenging them to work together to find ways to fund transportation that do not include privatizing Hydro One.
 
“The people of Ontario deserve an honest conversation about how each party would fund transportation,” says Schreiner. “It would be a big mistake to sell off Hydro One because the parties at Queen’s Park are afraid to come clean on supporting revenue for transportation.”
 
Schreiner’s letters point out that every party in last year’s provincial election supported funding for transit. Not all parties were clear about how they would fund it.
 
“Even Rob Ford admitted that taxes would need to go up to fund the Scarborough subway,” says Schreiner. “Why do politicians at Queen’s Park think magic money will somehow fund transit?”
 
Both opposition leaders have voiced their opposition to selling Hydro One. All three parties at Queen’s Park have rejected revenue sources for transit recommended by expert panels and civic organizations.
 
Schreiner has asked the Premier to take privatizing Hydro One off the table if the opposition leaders agree to support revenue tools for transportation.
 
“Is it too much to ask for a compromise that requires each party to be honest about funding transportation?” asks Schreiner. “The Liberals are desperate to avoid being accused of raising taxes, the opposition is rightly against selling off Hydro One and we badly need transit. It is time to put good public policy before partisan political posturing. ”
 
The GPO is on a mission to bring honesty, integrity and good public policy to Queen’s Park.

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Media Contact:
Samantha Bird
samanthabird@gpo.ca
416.977.7476
 

Sent from Green Party of Ontario
PO Box 1132
Toronto, ON M4Y 2T8
Canada

 

***********************************
Mike Schreiner
Leader
Green Party of Ontario
Central Office: 416-977-7476/1-888-647-3366
Guelph Office: 519-265-7699
Cell: 226-780-4074
MikeSchreiner@gpo.ca

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Read Mike Schreiner's Open Letters to Premier Wynne and Conservative and NDP leaders Patrick Brown and Andrea Horwath:

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