This month's Weaver is packed with wonderful information and messages from your Leader and SGP Executive. Stay up to date. Be informed. Check-in with The Weaver and watch our website for updates as we post information on our election readiness for the 2024 Provincial Election, candidate announcements, Platform information, and volunteer opportunities.
Dear Fellow Greens,
I have been out doorknocking and doing a listening campaign in Saskatoon Riversdale over the last year. The same 3 issues kept coming up over and over: affordability, problems with our healthcare system and climate instability. People are suffering financially right now because the cost of everything has gone up, and finding housing is harder than ever because its cost, too, has risen at an unprecedented rate.
Saskatchewan people are struggling to find a family doctor. My own mother experienced two strokes this year and is struggling to pay for her portion of all the medications she now needs. Speaking often with youth, I see the climate anxiety they are living with. And for those living on the streets near 20th Street in Saskatoon, an arctic front in winter or a heat wave in summer can literally mean the difference between life and death.
Official Announcement
SGP Annual General Meeting
June 1st, 2024
Every year we have an opportunity to gather as a group. It is a wonderful time for visiting with old and new friends. This year is an election year, and it will be especially exciting. Many of our nominated candidates will be in attendance. Perhaps your candidate will be there, and you can discover how you can help with their campaign.
Every year we choose a different location for the AGM. This year's AGM will be happening in Saskatoon. The exact location will be announced at a later date. Make sure you set aside Saturday, June 1st, 2024 on your calendar and plan to attend.
Executive Nominations
At every AGM there are elections held for positions on the Provincial Executive team. There are 12 electable positions available to the Provincial Executive. The roles, duties and titles for each position can be found in Section B 8.0 Provincial Executive Officers of the current Constitution and Bylaws.
At the 2024 AGM, every position is open except for Party Leader and Deputy Leader. That means there will be an opportunity for 11 party members to become more involved. We truly need a wide range of individuals to be involved in the Provincial Executive. A large group of skill sets always makes the most effective executive.
Every party member is encouraged to be involved. You do not need to be a 10-year member to step up and play a role. Our political party is continually growing and evolving without ever straying from our 6 Core Values; if you want to be involved, please download and print the executive nomination form: 2024 Executive Elections Nomination Form.
Once your nomination form is completed it can be submitted to:
Larry Neufeld
Former Deputy Leader
[email protected]
Nominations close at midnight on April 23rd, 2024.
Become a Candidate
Are you or someone you know a changemaker within your community who would make an excellent candidate for Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA)? As a constituency representative, an MLA advocates for the concerns and interests of the community he or she represents. The Saskatchewan Green Party supports green economics, progressive social planning, as well as responsible and accountable governance. Apply now!
Candidate Announcements
Numerous candidates are in the vetting process as this month’s Weaver goes out. Please check in at our website https://www.saskgreen.ca/2024_candidate_profiles during the month, to see new candidate announcements as they go up before you see them in the Weaver. That link takes you to those announced last month, please reach out and connect to these candidates, and offer help as you are able. This month, we are pleased to welcome Kimberley Joanne Epp for Moose Jaw North to our 2024 candidate lineup.
Petitions - Take Action and Please Sign
You can make a difference.
Together we can create real change in this province. As people across the province mobilize and add their voices to petitions for change, we build strength and resilience together. Add your voice today.
SK must act now to remove asbestos in our drinking water
https://www.saskgreen.ca/asbestos_in_our_drinking_water
SK needs a Wetlands Policy
https://www.saskgreen.ca/sk_needs_a_wetlands_policy
SK needs renewable energy - not nuclear waste.
https://www.saskgreen.ca/sk_needs_renewable_energy_not_nuclear_waste
SK demands a new approach to healthcare
https://www.saskgreen.ca/sk_demands_a_new_approach_to_healthcare
End Homelessness in Saskatchewan
https://www.saskgreen.ca/end_homelessness_in_saskatchewan
Ending Poverty in Saskatchewan
https://www.saskgreen.ca/ending_poverty_in_saskatchewan
Call for Volunteers
Join your local volunteer team
Your support is vital to help elect Saskatchewan Green MLAs and continue to build Green momentum in all ridings across our Province.
Fostering communities of dedicated change-makers, who enjoy working collaboratively in line with the Values of the Saskatchewan Green Party is essential to our mission. We need people like you, who demonstrate service, leadership, and a commitment to a more sustainable, healthy, and caring Saskatchewan.
Does this sound like you?
Please join us in this exciting opportunity to work with The Saskatchewan Green Party as we work towards building a stronger voice in government, and stronger advocacy for Green Values. Thank you for your support in helping grow the SK Green movement!
Earth Day Fundraising Campaign
As a valued member of our SGP community, we are asking you to be a part of the launch of our 2024 Earth Day Fundraising Campaign on March 1st! We aim to raise $2500 to support our initiatives for a more sustainable and eco-friendly future in the upcoming Provincial Election.
Here's the exciting part: a generous "Green Supporter" has pledged to match donations 2 to 1, up to $5000! Your $100 contribution will turn into $300 towards electing Green Leaders in the 2024 Election!
Every contribution, big or small, also gives you a 75% TAX CREDIT and helps SGP present our most active slate of candidates ever. Let’s make 2024 the year Saskatchewan Greens make it to the legislature.
Your early support will set the tone for a successful campaign.
Let's make a difference together!
DONATE NOW at https://www.saskgreen.ca/donate or you can etransfer your donation to [email protected].
Your commitment to a sustainable future makes a difference. We are grateful for your support, and we look forward to changing the face of Saskatchewan politics forever.
This year’s provincial budget is a whole lot of nothing.
By Naomi Hunter
At this time last year, the government was projecting a $ 208 million surplus for 2024-25.
Provincial Finance Minster Donna Harpaeur has gotten her projections wrong before; in all likelihood, she has again. This year she said the government is projecting a return to balance by 2025-26, with a projected $18-million surplus for the next fiscal year. What this budget boils down to is $31.8 billion this year or a provincial debt of $14,090 for every person in the province. No premier in Saskatchewan’s history has ever increased provincial debt at the rate Premier Scott Moe has.
While our debt has ballooned, the primary responsibilities of any provincial government, education and health, are woefully underfunded in crisis situations. The SaskParty slogan is ‘Growth that works for Everyone’; in reality, the SaskParty is creating jobs at the second-last rate in Canada. Where is the money going and why is it so hard for us to find the information now? Since 1995, Saskatchewan had a Balanced Budget Law. The SaskParty Government of Brad Wall repealed that Act in 2016 – after massive overspending on the Regina Bypass and GTH.
We have also spent over $10 billion in corporate subsidies in this province, in a typical Conservative “trickle-down” theory method of stimulating the economy. We've lost nearly $20 Billion because we have an inefficient potash royalty system that hurts provincial finances and discourages investment and competition. No wonder our taxes keep going up and we as citizens keep receiving less.
This year's budget is a whole lot of nothing and does little to help those needing the most. There was an absolutely insulting raise to SAID monthly payments announced; it does almost nothing to address the actual increase in the cost of living and rent in this province. Plus with the Saskparty federal carbon tax rebate cutoff (because of their political posturing), nothing plus nothing is nothing.
Saskatchewan people could have used immediate relief with a reduction to the PST. That was a solution that would have helped all of us immensely. We didn’t see it. This was the year they should have given us that financial relief.
Scott Moe’s Wasteful Diefenbaker Dam Expansion Project.
By Naomi Hunter
Scott Moe’s Diefenbaker Dam Expansion Project is a waste of our money and threatens our precious fresh water supply. The water for this southern Saskatchewan Irrigation Project is to come from an area that is already suffering a several-year drought. Why are working people facing a tax increase of billions of dollars that will only transfer huge wealth to a few very large-scale farmers?
Nero’s Fiddle
By Mike Bray
Global climate crises, worsened by fossil fuel emissions, demand urgent action. Premier Moe's resistance to renewables, despite viable solutions, reflects a backward stance. Saskatchewan needs Green representation for a timely transition to sustainable energy.
People globally, including Saskatchewan, are experiencing super storms, polar vortexes, flooding, drought and wildfires enhanced by increased greenhouse gas emissions.
There are solutions now, off the shelf – but the Fossil Curtain is a wily, experienced foe with deep pockets. The new climate denial misinformation says climate solutions don’t work. Add in their old standby, FUD: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.
Premier Moe can work them all into one soundbite. He says wind and solar can’t provide baseload, so he won’t allow us to freeze in the dark because of the “ideological whims” (?) of others.
Oh really! Iowa gets 73% of its power from wind, South Dakota 61%, and North Dakota 40%. No reports of mass freezing from down there.
Saskatchewan has the highest per capita emissions in Canada, 216% above the national average, and among the provinces, we have the second-highest emissions by volume. Moe is quoted as saying he doesn’t care.
Moe stands alone in Canada, still overseeing producing 2/3 of our power from fossils. We have only 629 MW of wind power (Alberta has 4453 MW, nearly as much as our total power production). Saskatchewan has only 75 MW of solar despite having the best solar potential in Canada.
Moe’s “vision “? Locking us into more big methane power plants and future expensive, inflexible small nuclear reactors, coal past 2030, Net Zero by 2050 (long after he’s out of office) – a meaningless goal.
Much more renewables, energy storage with batteries, compressed air, gravity storage, flywheels, a smart grid to better manage supply and demand, better inter- ties, and serious energy efficiency programs (Saskatchewan ranks last): all are needed ASAP.
Emissions reductions and the energy transition are about opportunity and gain, not loss and pain.
Can we reach net zero power by 2035? Not if we don’t try.
We Greens are a Can Do Party, not a Can’t and Won’t Party. We need Green voices in our Legislature, rather than the Later-is-too-late Parties.
Wind Turbines are friendlier to birds than Oil and Gas Drilling
No one doubts that wind turbines do indeed kill at least some birds. But a new analysis of American data, published in Environmental Science & Technology, suggests the numbers are negligible, and have little impact on bird populations.
Hydro Power’s Conundrum: Rising Demand in a Drier Climate
As demand for low-carbon energy rises amid the climate crisis, hydropower emerges as a crucial source. Despite its status as the largest renewable electricity source, climate change threatens its reliability due to shrinking water sources. Droughts in hydro-dependent provinces like BC, Manitoba, and Quebec highlight the urgent need for sustainable solutions.
Municipal Councillors Donated to Saskatchewan Party Using Taxpayer Funds to Gain Access To Premier, Other Provincial Politicians
Investigative journalists reveal municipalities donating taxpayer dollars to Saskatchewan's political parties, mainly the Saskatchewan Party. Access to provincial politicians is facilitated through event ticket purchases, raising ethical concerns and prompting calls for political finance reform in Saskatchewan.
Duncan, Other Politicians, Catering to Climate Change Deniers
“This government is creating a poorer quality of life for at least seven generations to come,” writes Jim Elliott. Politicians pander to climate change deniers and those averse to inconvenience rather than prioritizing real issues like housing, climate protection, and support for health and trauma.
Saskatchewan, Alberta Inaction on the Climate Crisis Makes It Worse
Global warming and climate change are undeniable, causing havoc with late freezes and thin ice in Northern Ontario and Manitoba. Saskatchewan and Alberta governments are neglecting the crisis, even defying Canadian law on the carbon tax. Canada must take decisive action with legislation and embrace renewable energy to confront the impending climate catastrophe.
We Should Reflect on Mine Remediation
Saskatchewan's $94 million cleanup of abandoned uranium mines is commendable but reflects a third-world approach. Taxpayers foot the bill for 37 sites, while future small modular reactors pose undisclosed costs, continuing nuclear industry subsidies.
We hope you feel inspired to share your thoughts and knowledge with our readers. We are ready to dig deep with you and to share your contributions with our Green members and supporters. I will work with you as much as you’d like through discussion and with editing help on any submission. We treasure the efforts of any and all who share our respect for the Green Values and offer us their thoughts on relevant topics. We will let you know if your submission has been accepted.
Dave Walther, Copy Editor
The Weaver articles express the viewpoints of the authors. They may not always align with the policies of the Saskatchewan Green Party.
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