FREDERICTON – Green Party leader and MLA for Fredericton South David Coon says the latest effort to evict some of his constituents to avoid the rent cap would have been impossible if Service NB Minister Mary Wilson and government backbenchers had voted in favour of his amendments to plug the leaks in the rent cap bill.  

“Now the chickens have come home to roost, thanks to the refusal to eliminate the loopholes from the bill, but it is renters, like my constituents, who are paying the price,” said Coon.  “It is inhumane to force people from their homes, and even more so for the elderly.  The Premier should ask the Speaker to recall the Legislature, so we can stop this madness and protect renters from retribution.”

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SUNNY CORNER - This morning, NB Green Party Leader David Coon joined candidates Chad Duplessie (Miramichi Bay-Neguac) and Julie Guillemet-Ackerman (Southwest Miramichi-Bay du Vin) at a press conference to outline their priorities for their ridings after listening to voters at the door and at gatherings.  

“I have knocked on hundreds of doors across the riding and one thing is sure: people are tired of having no real representation.  We haven’t had an MLA for almost a year and it has shown up in the local governance reforms, it shows in how our health services are run, how local infrastructure decisions are made and I could go on,” says Duplessie. “Local governance reform was intended to fix the crisis facing local democracy but in the case of Entity 22 the process has only created confusion, distrust and division. I truly believe that the only way for the people of Miramichi Bay-Neguac to have true representation in Fredericton is to vote Green.”

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FREDERICTON – New Brunswick Green Party leader and MLA for Fredericton South David Coon is joining Sonia Furstenau, Leader of the BC Greens, and Peter Bevan-Baker, Leader of the PEI Greens, in calling on the Prime Minister and Premiers across the country for a national tax on the windfall profits of oil and gas companies.

 “New Brunswickers are really struggling with the rising costs of living, including gas, food and home heating,” said Coon.  “I am joining my Green provincial colleagues from across the country to call on the Prime Minister to establish a one-time tax on the windfall profits of the oil companies and redistribute the revenue to Canadians. In fact, during question period I asked Premier Higgs if he would join me in this effort.”

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FREDERICTON – Green Party leader and MLA for Fredericton South David Coon will present a motion in the Legislative Assembly this morning requesting that the Legislative Assembly designate September 30th as the Day for Truth and Reconciliation in New Brunswick. 

 “Over the course of more than 100 years, some 150,000 Indigenous children were ripped from their families and forced to attend church and government-run Residential Schools,” said Coon. “Officially recognizing this day is an important step towards reconciliation in New Brunswick.”

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FREDERICTON – Kevin Arseneau, the MLA for Kent North and Green caucus advocate for Developing and Strengthening Communities, has released a video of his attempt to travel between his home near Rogersville and the Legislative Assembly in Fredericton using only New Brunswick’s fractured public transportation system.

“A good and reliable public transportation system could be used by all New Brunswickers,” said Arseneau. “But, this requires the political will to remove barriers, ensuring better coordination between rail, intercity bus and municipal transit while investing in strategic infrastructure.” 

 

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FREDERICTON – This afternoon, during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Economic Policy, Green Party leader and MLA for Fredericton South David Coon proposed amendments to Service NB Minister Mary Wilson’s Bill 96: An Act to Amend the Residential Tenancies Act that would make it more difficult for landlords to “renovict” a tenant.

“It’s a well-known secret among landlords that if you are looking to cash in on increasing market rents in the face of rent cap – evict your tenants under the guise of major renovations and bring in all new tenants at high rents,” said Coon. “This is the biggest loophole in the government’s rent cap bill that needs to be closed.”

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Last Friday was the first official day of the by-elections in Miramichi Bay-Neguac and Southwest Miramichi-Bay du Vin.  Green party leader, David Coon, joined both candidates in Miramichi to officially kick off the writ period.  The energy was palpable - people are excited about the possibility of electing a Green MLA for the first time in these ridings!

Chad Duplessie and Julie Guillemet-Ackerman also signed the Stop Spraying New Brunswick Pledge, adding their names alongside those of David Coon, Kevin Arseneau and Megan Mitton.  

Just last week in the legislature Kevin added more names to the petition to ban the spraying of Glyphosate in the province.  It is the largest petition ever tabled in NB now with 35,753 names attached.  Despite the commitment of Minister Mike Holland to reduce glyphosate spraying under power lines, no official directive has yet been issued. 

On top of that, Higgs is choosing to allow Irving to rake in record profits on gas while New Brunswickers are being squeezed at the pump.  The Green MLAs have been offering concrete solutions Higgs can take immediately to alleviate the stress that New Brunswickers are feeling right now.  

A by-election is the perfect time to send a strong message to the Conservative government.  Chad and Julie need your support to get to Fredericton and help keep Higgs in check. 

I invite you to join them for these next 4 weeks of campaigning! 

Sincerely, 

Marco Morency
Executive Director, Green Party of NB

 

Meet the candidates:

Chad Duplessie
Miramichi Bay-Neguac

Twice elected Miramichi city councilor, father of three, with a career in community building on issues such as access to healthy food, inclusion, youth mental health, and homelessness.  Read more… 

Julie Guillemet-Ackerman
Southwest Miramichi-Bay du Vin

Communications professional with experience in corporate and non-profit communications, mother of two, and committed to putting her Green values into action.  Read more…

 

FREDERICTON – Findings of severe biodiversity loss in New Brunswick’s forests were published today in the online journal Nature Ecology & Evolution by an international collaboration of scientists led by New Brunswicker Matthew Betts, currently a professor of forest ecology at Oregon State University.

The scientists looked at the degree to which forest degradation – the reduction or loss of biological complexity – in the form of clearcutting and then thinning or replanting single tree species affected bird habitat and long-term trends in bird populations.

“The scientists’ findings should be a call to action for Natural Resources Minister Mike Holland to order a halt to forest degradation caused by clearcutting older forests and then thinning the regrowth or replanting single tree species,” said Green Party leader David Coon.

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Sackville – Megan Mitton, the MLA for Memramcook-Tantramar and the Green Party’s Education and Health critic, released the following statement today in response to Child, Youth and Seniors Advocate Kelly Lamrock’s recommendations on COVID protocols in schools:

“Child & Youth Advocate Kelly Lamrock has issued thoughtful recommendations regarding COVID protocols in schools today, including the return of masking in schools for at least the next month, while policies are reviewed. This needs to be implemented immediately.

Education also needs to implement his recommendation to ensure rapid tests are available to all students and staff in schools. We need widespread access to rapid tests - not once a week by appointment. You shouldn’t need to have symptoms.”