2023 promise tracker: Green Party of Prince Edward Island

You're going to hear a lot of promises during this Prince Edward Island election campaign. Here's a round-up of the key announcements from the Green Party, led by Peter Bevan-Baker.

This page will be updated regularly until the election on April 3, so make sure to check back for the latest.

The full Green Party platform was released on March 23.

The Green Party estimates the cost of its platform will be $151,296,000 in 2023-24, offset by $48,000,000 in new federal transfers for a total net new cost of $103,296,000.

Health care and doctor shortages

• Open more walk-in clinics, specifically cough and fever, mobile blood work and prescription renewal clinics.
• Amend the Medical Act to allow nurse practitioners to "work more effectively in a collaborative practice" or to manage NP-led clinics.
• Increase and improve mental health services, including adding counselling positions to family clinics and emergency rooms — and opening psychiatric urgent care clinics.
• Amend legislation to allow physician assistants to work in health care on P.E.I. Create a physician assistant training program with UPEI, increase family physician residency spots from five to 10 and "make it easier for internationally trained health professionals to practise on P.E.I."
• Amend the Health Services Act to "remove political interference" in the health-care system, and do a feasibility study on the UPEI medical school.
• Invest $37 million in wage increases and benefits for health care workers, from cleaning staff to nurses.
• Support health-care workers in skill upgrades, including an LPN to RN bridging program.
• Enhance immunization programs, including expanding clinics in schools.
• Review COVID-19 pandemic response and update pandemic plan.
• Improve health education in the K-12 curriculum.
• Provide free or low-cost access to fitness activities and artistic, cultural, and social activities for Islanders, to improve their mental and physical health.
• Expand active transportation and trail infrastructure.
• Provide Islanders with free access to birth control, including oral contraceptives and intrauterine devices.
• Boost funding to provincial pharmacare by $18 million to match the Canadian average per capita investment in pharmacare
• Complete the new mental health hospital, establish Psychiatric Urgent Care Clinics (PUCCs) outside of Charlottetown, and increase the number of guidance counsellors in schools.
• Create a Perinatal Mental Health strategy.
• Expand home-care services to seniors and other Islanders in need.
• Create a withdrawal management (detox) facility in Summerside.
• Offer low-interest loans to private long-term care facilities to make capital improvements, seeking an ownership stake in funding agreements to begin the transition away from for-profit care.
• Build more public long-term care beds.
• Legislate national standards of care.
• Create a restorative care unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Housing

• Commit at least $385 million over the next five years to build new public housing and repair existing housing, including seniors housing. Spend at least $100 million over four years to buy existing residential and commercial accommodations and convert them into public housing.
• Establish a right of first refusal on the sale of multi-unit residential and commercial accommodations to ensure government has the first opportunity to buy housing. Make low-interest loans available to housing developers too.
• Introduce programs to address labour shortages in the construction sector.
• "Protect Islanders from illegal rents by establishing a rental registry" and make the moratorium on renovictions permanent.
• Expand government-funded emergency and transitional shelter facilities.
• Amend Planning Act to promote density, encourage development in transit corridors and reduce loss of farmland.
• Promote inclusionary zoning to encourage the creation of more affordable units in new housing projects.
• Create a speculation and flipping tax.
• End blind bidding in home purchases.
• Move toward Lands-Protection-Act-styled regulation housing, appointing a commissioner to make recommendations on its design and implementation.

Economy, workers, inflation, cost of living

• Raise the low-income tax reduction threshold from $20,000 to $25,000 over four years.
• Create additional tax brackets to "better" tax high incomes.
• Index tax brackets to inflation to protect against bracket creep and keep more money in the pockets of Islanders.
• Create a refundable tax credit for Islanders earning between $30,000 and $50,000 at a cost of $8 million per year in year one with increased investment. The average benefit would be approximately $250.
• Immediately increase the minimum wage to $15.20 and make sure it keeps pace with inflation, increasing it by $1 per year until it reaches a living wage.
• Create a basic income pilot.
• Increase social assistance rates and index them to inflation.
• Legislate 10 paid sick days for Island workers.

Environment, climate change

• Bring in Island-wide land-use planning with a strong focus on making communities more sustainable, reducing emissions, protecting the shoreline and forests, and moving development away from areas prone to flooding or erosion.
• Make land ownership and purchases more transparent to make sure the Lands Protection Act can be properly enforced.
• Maintain the shoreline development moratorium until new and improved shoreline protection legislation is in place.
• Increase the amount of clean renewable energy generated on the Island.

Education, child care

• Invest $5 million in the first year to hire more teachers and educational assistants.
• Invest $500,000 in the first year to hire more school counsellors.
• Implement air quality monitoring in all schools and make the upgrades needed to ensure all schools have clean air. $500,000 would be set aside for air quality monitoring.
• Allow permanent residents to vote in school board elections.
• Provide free water safety lessons to all primary-age students.
• Expand access to vaccinations in Island schools.
• Establish a $2,000 bursary program to encourage students to work in construction.
• Set the zero-payment threshold for P.E.I. student loans to $40,000 gross income, indexed to inflation and with upward adjustments for family size.
• Cover student debt payments for graduates with P.E.I. student loans for the 2023-24 year, and in subsequent years no longer require student loan payments from graduates earning less than $40,000 per year.
• Increase debt reduction grants and expanding debt reduction programs to include students from other provinces and international students.
• Increase financial assistance for graduate students doing innovative research, specifically providing $500,000 in non-repayable assistance to support graduate students in their research.
• Review funding agreements with Island post-secondary institutions to make sure they have "adequate and predictable funding."
• Create a capital fund to build new child-care centres, expand existing ones, and keep centres from closing.
• Immediately increase wages for early childhood educators to at least a living wage, so child-care centres can better attract and retain staff.
• Hire more school counsellors to address the mental health needs of students.

Social programs

No announcements to date.

Infrastructure and communities

No announcements to date.

Governance, leadership

• Review progress and accelerate the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' calls for justice.
• Legislate proportional representation, based on the recommendations of a Citizens' Assembly tasked with determining the model of proportional representation.
• Develop an anti-racism strategy in partnership with community members and equity-seeking groups.