May Day: Honouring workers

May 1 is May Day, a day to honour all workers. During this time of COVID, we appreciate in particular the many workers keeping our communities, families and loved ones safe.

Knowing our health workers were working for us during this crisis time gave us all a sense of security and safety.

We thank the New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity for their work advocating for justice for the many workers, particularly women in the private caregiving sector, who have been working tirelessly and mostly behind the scenes during the crisis. They are paid much less than they deserve.

Many essential workers in all sectors are also under-paid and many are not yet collectively organized.

May Day is also a time to reflect on the value of labour unions that advocate not only for their members but also for workers everywhere. We celebrate the labour unions that introduced many of the benefits that most New Brunswickers enjoy today.

Of course we must thank the public sector unions. Two unions - the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) stand out for their tireless work to improve public services for everyone. The Green Party supports CUPW’s Delivering Community Power initiative that holds great promise for rural communities in particular.

A special shout-out to the 4,100 nursing home workers represented by CUPE NB who for decades have advocated collectively for improved care for seniors across the province and are now working tirelessly during the pandemic to keep our seniors safe and secure. Thank you!

Green Party Leader David Coon and Action on COVID-19

Our party leader David Coon, has been very active on the COVID-19 Cabinet Committee, successfully championing urgent protection for the most vulnerable in nursing and long-term care homes, action to protect workers in the care sector, and a focus on supporting farmers to make New Brunswick more food self-sufficient as a key part of the economic recovery.

For the most up-to-date and accurate information on COVID-19 and government action, consult the Government of Canada and Government of New Brunswick's COVID-19 pages.

2020 AGM

The Provincial Council AGM committee reviewed when and how our Party could hold the AGM recently postponed. An online AGM is definitely the way to go and we are currently reviewing different online voting options. The notice for the 2020 Online AGM will be sent to members in the first week of May.

Green Party NB Provincial Council - elections

We encourage members interested in taking a more active role to join the Provincial Council, the governing body of the Party.  At each AGM we run elections for positions on the Provincial Council.  To learn about the positions available and how you can be nominated, contact Stephanie Coburn at [email protected]. The role and purpose of the Provincial Council is described in our Party’s Constitution, available here. Also, feel free to contact Tom McLean to learn more about being on the council at [email protected]. 

Reminder: Policy Working Group 2020

On April 16, we emailed you an invitation to join the 2020 Green Party NB Policy Working Group. If you would like to be involved, please download and review the current policy manual, available at this link. The 2020 PWG work will focus on these four chapters:

Chapter 4: Green Economy

Chapter 6: Social Justice, Human Rights, Environmental Rights

Chapter 7: Labour

Chapter 8: Healthcare 

If you are interested, please review the invitation and complete the sign-up survey, which closes May 10.

Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PWG-GTP

Green MLAs in Action

David Coon, Megan Mitton, Kevin Arseneau are continuing to work not only on behalf of their constituents but also all New Brunswickers.

While the MLAs riding offices are temporarily closed to in-person meetings, the MLAs and staff are hard at work. Click here to find out how to get in touch with them.

For news from the Green MLAs, visit the Green Caucus website or subscribe to the Green Caucus legislative week in review newsletter, at this link.

Here are some Green MLA updates from April:

Petition: Year-round Ferry for Campobello

Green MLA proposes solutions to increase NB’s food sovereignty during COVID-19

Memramcook-Tantramar MLA announces task force to respond to community needs during the pandemic

Green Party leader supports former Provincial Librarian’s call for an inquiry into of the hiring process for the executive director of the New Brunswick Public Library System

Stay safe. Stay strong.