24 APRIL 2014

Thanks to Green Party Leader David Coon's Right to Information request, you can read the secret contract between the Alward government and Jim Irving. Its purpose? . . . "to ensure the ongoing global competitiveness and sustainability of Irving's forestry operations in the Province of New Brunswick.

The Alward government guarantees to increase the supply of softwood  from Crown lands to J.D. Irving by 25%, keep wood costs competitive, and reduce costs for Irving's forestry operations in New Brunswick.

Read the contract here.

17 APRIL 2014

Andrew Clark was selected as the Green Party's candidate for Carleton at a nomination meeting held in Woodstock on April 15. Mr. Clark is a well-known forestry contractor and woodlot owner in the area. He served as President of the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners for 11 years. He also served as a President and Director of the Carleton-Victoria Wood Producer's Association.

Mr. Clark was born in Woodstock and raised on a farm in Simonds, outside Hartland. He is a graduate of the Maritime Forest Ranger School and has spent most of his career harvesting and trucking wood from private woodlots.

16 APRIL 2014

Robertville, Wednesday April 16 – Kevin Arseneau announced that he would seek the nomination for the Green Party of New Brunswick in the Restigouche-Chaleur riding, in light of the September 22nd election.

“The reason that motivates my entering politics is simple: I believe in my region and in its inhabitants. Traditional political parties have the regrettable habit of governing from the top down, making MLAs simple messengers for Fredericton. Yet, that should not be the role of an MLA. I see that role as that of a spokesperson, a defender and a community organizer for the region. I want to take part in the long term development of our region, bring back our youth, and make sure that our long term vision is one that reflects that of the people who live here. I firmly believe that the Green Party of New Brunswick espouses these values. I could not contemplate working with any other party.”

A Robertville native, Kevin Arseneau is a student at the Université de Moncton’s Education Faculty (Geography major). Naturally curious, he has worked in several fields including arts, construction, agriculture, forestry, tourism and education, before returning to school at the age of 25. His experiences provide him with a global vision with regards to the challenges facing North East New Brunswick.

Contact : Kevin Arseneau
[email protected]
1.506.232.5824

10 APRIL 2014

The closure of the Morgentaler Clinic in Fredericton underlines the need for the Alward government to move quickly on establishing quality reproductive health services for women in New Brunswick, according to Green Party leader David Coon.

The Green Party's advocate for health and the status of women, Marilyn Merritt-Gray says the core components of a quality provincial reproductive health service must include: reproductive health screening & treatment, contraceptive information & methods, and abortion services.

08 APRIL 2014

The Green Party has learned that the Alward government's forest strategy is based on a radical deregulation of forestry on Crown lands, leaving industry to regulate itself. For example, the new strategy will eliminate the existing standard to preserve the Acadian Forest, and permit an increase in the size of clearcuts, while cutting oversight, jobs and $10 million from the Department of Natural Resources' annual budget. This changes are in addition to the reduction in conservation forest from 31% to 23% that had previously been made public.

The Tories' forest strategy is being implemented through contracts signed with the four corporations licensed to cut on Crown land. The first contract has been signed with J.D. Irving .

31 MARCH 2014

At its Annual General Assembly held in Moncton on Saturday, Green Party members passed a resolution calling on New Brunswick to work with the other Maritime provinces to advocate for a new Canada Health Accord that is adjusted for the age of provincial populations.

The Canada Health Accord expires today with nothing to replace it. Stephen Harper refuses to negotiate a new accord with the Premiers, replace it with per capita transfers of health funding instead.

26 MARCH 2014

The sixth annual general meeting of members of the New Brunswick Green Party will be held in Moncton on March 29, 2014. 

With this being the election year we urge all members to attend and contribute to the building the Green Party into the political alternative New Brunswickers are seeking. Our theme is "Striving for an Authentic Democracy" and you will hear from a panel of resource people who are blazing that trail.

Key agenda items include: Address from our leader, David Coon; policy resolutions; the 2014 election; what you can do.

We look forward to seeing you there!

24 MARCH 2014

Green Party Leader David Coon wants Natural Resources Minister Paul Robichaud to lift the gag order that is preventing his scientific and technical staff from speaking to the media. Coon wants biologists and foresters working for the Department of Natural Resources to be able to speak publicly about the government's new forest strategy, without fear of retribution.

"The staff at the Department of Natural Resources are public servants, and they have a duty to provide their expertise to people of this province for whom they work. This government is holding their expertise hostage. It's not right," said Green Party leader David Coon.

19 MARCH 2014

FREDERICTON – Green Party Leader David Coon is calling on Premier David Alward to publicly release the contract his government signed with JD Irving to guarantee wood supply from Crown land. Coon says that under the Crown Lands and Forests Act, the terms of JD Irving's Crown timber licenses already authorizes the company to harvest timber for twenty-five years and requires it to describe its plant investments and employment levels for a ten year period.  

“New Brunswckers and First Nations have a right to know what David Alward has signed away to the Irvings," said Green Party David Coon. "I am concerned that this contract obligates New Brunswickers to compensate JD Irving if public efforts to re-build local forest economies, establish community forests, resolve aboriginal title, or increase conservation measures in the future diminishes the amount of wood the government has agreed to provide the company over the long-term," said Coon. "I worry this contract handcuffs the hands of future governments to the policies of the Alward government," said Coon.  

12 MARCH 2014

The decision of the Alward government to permit 21% more clearcutting on Crown land this year will be ruinous for both rural communities and wildlife, according to Green Party Leader David Coon. "This corporate forest plan sells rural New Brunswick and our environment down the river. It runs roughshod over the values and aspirations that New Brunswickers hold dear," said Coon.

The Green Party wants to create the conditions for an innovative and diverse forest industry that suits our forest and sustains our rural communities, but Coon says the Alward plan will make that impossible.