Happy New Year and welcome to our first newsletter of the year! We look forward to bringing you all the news and events as we dive into 2023.

First and foremost, we are delighted to announce the arrival of our new Executive Director, who will be officially introduced on January 23. We are confident that she will bring new momentum and fresh ideas to our team. 

We are also pleased to welcome our new administrative assistant, Betania Bertone, from Brazil. Please feel free to call her in the afternoon to welcome her or send her an email ([email protected]). We would like to thank Kaely Scott for all her hard work over the past few years.

In April, we will be holding our AGM, where we will be renewing part of our Provincial Council. This event will be an opportunity to meet in person (and/or virtually), to discuss our plans for 2023 and for the upcoming provincial election.

At the end of winter, we will also have by-elections in the ridings of Dieppe, Restigouche West, Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-Saint-Isidore. We are counting on your support and involvement for these crucial elections.

Finally, you will read that our MLAs are working tirelessly in the Fredericton Legislature to defend the values of our party and the common good of our citizens. 

Together, let's make 2023 a year of progress for the Green Party of New Brunswick and for our community!

Enjoy the newsletter!

Nicolas Jelic

President, Green Party of New Brunswick

In this issue:

• Fundraising update
• Provincial Council Corner
• Get Involved
  • Join Provincial Council!
  • Events: 
    • So you want to elect a Green MLA (3rd session) - January 26
    • Zoom Trivia Night! - January 31
    • Leader's Quarterly Update - February 22
• Green MLAs in Action - Paid Sick Days Bill

Fundraising Update

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all our donors for their generous contribution which allowed us to reach a record $130,000 in 2022. 

Your tireless support gives us the strength and motivation to pursue our commitment to our communities and our values. Thanks to your trust and generosity, we will be able to continue our preparation for the 2024 election and continue to bring our message to the citizens of New Brunswick. 

We are extremely grateful for your valuable support and commitment to our shared vision. Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts for your contribution.

Provincial Council Corner

We are determined to keep this beautiful momentum going in the Green Party of New Brunswick! We want to have the best possible team on Provincial Council and keep our membership growing.

Nominations for Provincial Council are open until March 4th. (The open positions are listed in the next section below.) Elections will take place at the Annual General Meeting in April.

January is also a good time to verify if you need to renew your membership.

Two years ago we moved to annual, paid memberships so that we could better track our current members. Over the past few months staff and volunteers have made thousands of phone calls and we wanted to answer some of the most common questions about membership for you:

- a donation (even monthly!) does not mean you are a member. Membership fees are not tax deductible in New Brunswick so it needs to be paid separately.

- Green Party of NB and Green Party of Canada memberships are separate, just because you recently renewed one, the other may not be up to date.

- annual membership fees are $10, if this cost is a barrier to you, please contact the office to fill out a membership form and have the fee waived.

- not sure if your membership is up to date? Reply to this email and someone will confirm with you over the next week.

Get involved!

Join Provincial Council

It’s that time of year again when we renew some positions on the Provincial Council. Are you interested in joining? Do you know of an excellent candidate that would be a great addition to the council? 

The following positions are up for election: 

• President 
• VP Francophone 
• Secretary 
• 4 Regional Council Members: 
  • Fredericton-Miramichi River-Carleton region (2) 
  • Madawaska-Chaleur-Peninsula region (2)
• Policy working group chair 

The role and purpose of the Provincial Council are described in our Party’s Constitution, available here. To learn more about the positions available and how you can be nominated, contact the Nomination Committee members at [email protected]

Council nominations are open now and will close on March 4, 2023. Elections will take place at the Annual General meeting in early April – details to come soon! 

So you want to elect a Green MLA - 3rd session (Online)

Thursday, Jan 26, 7 - 8:30pm

If you want to organize a strong campaign in your community to help elect a Green MLA in 2024, this is the event for you! Get energized by fellow Greens and get all the right tools in your toolbox to build a strong campaign on the ground. 

This is a continuation of last year’s Zoom sessions, but attendance at the first two is absolutely NOT REQUIRED.

**This training is being offered to current Green Party NB members. To check on your membership status please email [email protected].

Register for this Zoom event HERE.

Leader's Quarterly Update

Wednesday, Feb 22, 7 - 8 pm 

After a hugely successful first edition of the Leader’s Quarterly Update, Green Leader David Coon will be back for a second edition in February! Get the insider’s scoop on what’s happening at the Legislature, what the 3 Green MLAs are doing and ask David your questions directly.

Register for the Zoom event HERE.

Zoom Trivia Night!

Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 7 pm 

Hello all trivia lovers! With the popularity of last year's zoom trivia night hosted by our own Kevin Arseneau, we will be doing it again this year! Come test your knowledge against multiple teams for the chance of ultimate bragging rights as GPNB champions. Last year's winners were the Ostrogoths, but this year it could be you.

All those interested, registration will be required by Monday, January 30. Your team captain can register the entire team or it can be done on an individual basis. It is 100$ per team. A team name will be required during registration. 

**Note that trivia cannot be done on a phone or tablet. Further details will be sent shortly.

And, of course, you can…

Green MLAs in Action!

Paid Sick Leave

David, Megan and Kevin have long been saying that paid sick days need to be available to all New Brunswick workers. In December, David presented a bill that would prescribe 10 paid sick days for all workers in the province. The government voted for the bill to be sent to Law and Amendments. This is great news as this means the bill is moving onto the next step. Keep an eye out for updates on this important bill.

Kevin explained that the bill would create a fund to help small and medium-sized businesses adapt to these new measures. He said that for years the government has been subsidizing large businesses, and it is time to help small and medium-sized businesses attract and retain workers.

Megan said that many people have reached a point where they have to choose between their health and a paycheque because they don’t have paid sick days.