I'm voting for McFadyen

Deank wrote:the NDP, Lib and PC platforms are not completely out yet either...

wrong.



http://www.pcmanitoba.com/main.asp?cat_ID=3

Green Party of Manitoba platform launch at 11AM memorial park

http://greenparty.mb.ca/press_releases/green-party-unveils-platform

Like I said....a party in waiting.

wrong wrong JTF... there is still more coming from the PC platform. Or at least more details on certain aspects coming.

The green party forgot daily hugs, and organic milk and cookies for all school children...

The Green Platform:

No to Bipole III. The world is shifting to renewable energy
creation and conservation. Let’s put our money into the energy of the
future, not squander it on antiquated dams and wasteful corridors.

I'm curious what are these renewable energy sources? Apparently Hydro isn't "Green" enough.

Yes
to a real end to poverty. 80% of social dollars are wasted on
bureaucracy. Universal Basic Income puts 100% into the pockets of the
people who need a hand up. Out-of-work civil servants are welcome to
apply.

What about the people collecting social assistance, who don't need a hand up but instead a kick in the a$$ to find a job? I am all for their being a safety net, however I am tired of that safety net becoming a permanent source of income for people.

No to more criminals. Keep kids from becoming criminals
by providing real Youth opportunities. Bring healing to hurting families
with Restorative justice.

This is a good one, Restorative justice works in very special and limited cases. However more youth opportunities are good and all, but be a bit more specific.

Yes to free post-secondary education.
Education is the key to ending the poverty trap. Our hardworking
students deserve our support.

Where is the money for this going to come from? I am a firm believer in solid post-secondary education. I am still paying for mine, however I feel that because I paid for it out of my pocket that it has value. Too many people that I went to school with that had their education paid for did poorly because they had NO vested interest in it other than making it to graduation.

Yes to preventative health care.
We can stretch the health dollars with more nurse practitioners,
actively encourage fitness, and reduce chronic illness with natural
foods and common sense.

I liked this up until the whole Natural Foods part, sounds like hippy nonsense to me. Promote healthy living and all that but stay out of my kitchen, and the grocery stores. People need to be able to make decisions on their own, and not have the government holding their hand.

No to worn out roads and dangerous travel. Greens would move freight off the highways and onto the railways.

The province is going to build more railway? What about all the transport and trucking industry workers? Oh wait they can get free education, and easy access to social assistance... Good times.

Yes to free public transit. Fast efficient buses which encourage use.

Cause transit is soooo expensive now? Fast efficient buses? I know New Flyer makes all kinds of buses that go fast? Again must be nice to have money to spend on this... Oh wait no they don't otherwise it would have been done already.

No
to nuclear storage or transport in Manitoba. There is no affordable way
to manage nuclear power safely. The risks are just too great.

This just seems pointless to me. Manitoba has how many active nuclear reactors? I think that number is less than 1..

Yes to a clean Lake Winnipeg. Everyone must do our part. Compost nutrients. Rebuild cleansing wetlands. Keep city waste and farm waste out of the lake.

This is reasonable, Lake Winnipeg is a valuable resource, however I think that the city and the province have been working on this for a while. What are the greens going to do different?

No to partisan bickering. No party has all the right answers all the time. Good Governance means
we all work together for policies which help Manitoba families. It’s
time to vote with your heart and for your family’s future.

No Partisan bickering? I would love to see how this works.

At the end of the day I have yet to see a platform that comes across as realistic. The green agenda has merits, but really they are as bad if not worse than the NDP. Spend.... Spend.... Spend.... How about a party that taxes the population for what it needs and nothing more. Unfortunately this election is all about buying votes.

ahhh .....ya forgot about banning all flush toilets and replacing them with outhouses...for real.

not for real JTF..

Stonekiller and others.. super busy at work right now. will respond to all your very good questions later today or tonight as soon as I can

Yup. For real real.



Lake Winnipeg: Halt wetlands drainage, ban the sale of kitchen garburators and phase out liquid sewage treatment in favour of composting toilets.



http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/provincial-election/scrap-bipole-altogether-manitoba-greens-130336758.html

you honestly dont know the difference?

They have those composting toilets at MEC, I dunno seems like an okay idea, though if you drop anything down there kiss it goodbye.

I am still not understanding their desire for eliminating Hydro's plans to build dams and scrapping the Bi-Pole completely. I am all for conservation of non-renewable resources, however Hydro is a clean, renewable resource, I pay for what I use and will continue to use as much as I need to.

quick answer to just that question.

That "deal" will cost hydro around 20 Billion dollars.( more depending on construction rates and such as we move forward) Which could drive the actual cost of generation around 8 cents per KWh. We sell it to manitobans for 7.5 cents and export it at 3.5 cents.


Do you make money by selling something for cheaper then what it costs you to make and deliver?

Yeah but that's the problem why are we selling electricity to the Americans for less than half of what we pay? Should be the other way around.

Though I still don't see how that this is a "Green" issue? Hydro needs to smarten up, if the costs to produce the hydro is 8cents per KWh then it should be sold to the Americans at 10cents per KWh.

Though if you look the total amount hydro is making is 11 cents per KWh so it is paying for itself though like I said the pricing should be the other way around.

Its an economic issue. Greens are far more prudent economically then most people think. We are not a SPEND SPEND SPEND party, we are a live within our means and increase our opportunities party.

"Though if you look the total amount hydro is making is 11 cents per KWh
so it is paying for itself though like I said the pricing should be the
other way around."

but its not 11 cents. thats the problem. We are heading full on into selling electricity just because we can. Maybe we need to stop and think about what it is we are doing and ensure all the cards are open and on the table before we make 20 Billion dollar decisions that will impact us for generations to come. The time frame is short making discussion difficult, but the impact is generational

Interesting to read the union spin on this - looks like McFadyen emerges as the union darling after all:

http://www.mgeu.ca/leaders

eViL tRoLl wrote:Interesting to read the union spin on this - looks like McFadyen emerges as the union darling after all:

http://www.mgeu.ca/leaders

if they had asked the greens.... they would be surprised

I reckon they know something that you don't, so they didn't bother.

We are heading full on into selling electricity just because we can.

That sounds like a good idea to me. Sell surplus energy to the Americans who can't generate enough for themselves, and do it in a way that is renewable, and fairly environmentally sound.

The only problem I see with the current contract is that we are selling the electricity to the Americans at a rate less than we currently pay for it. I'm not sure why they did that, but obviously there was a reason. Manitoba also sells electricity to Saskatchewan and Northern Ontario, I wonder what they get charged... I should see if I can find that info. Manitoba has the capacity to be a bulk seller of electricity, which unlike Alberta is always going to be available, and sustainable. To decrease that capacity would be a mistake.

I am curious though what the Greens would do for communities that would be impacted by the loss in jobs, and royalties?

"Sell surplus energy to the Americans who can't generate enough for
themselves, and do it in a way that is renewable, and fairly
environmentally sound."

EXCEPT we are selling it at a loss


And

" To decrease that capacity would be a mistake."

We are not saying completely decrease capacity either. investing in alternative technology and not putting all our eggs in one basket is a smart thing. Diversification no matter what you are selling is always a good thing

Deank wrote:"Sell surplus energy to the Americans who can't generate enough for themselves, and do it in a way that is renewable, and fairly environmentally sound.

So if there is surplus energy why are they pushing those nasty toxic "energy saver" light bulbs on the public? These buggers are the next environmental disaster in waiting. Break one and try to clean up the mercury ...

You keep saying that we are selling hydro at a loss...

That is easy to fix, increase the price.

Diversification is great, however until technology catches up with demand, nothing with the exception of maybe Nuclear power (which is a no-go for the Green Party), generates as much electricity as the power generating stations around the province. As we add capacity the more we can sell to the Americans, the more money Hydro makes, the more that goes into the provincial coffers.

Manitoba needs to capitalize on things that we can export, Hydro is easy to export, there is an increasing demand, and if Hydro were to get a bit smarter about it, charge a bit more and suddenly Manitoba is a have province.

Green Party believes the best alternative light bulb is the LED based ones. Not the CFLs that you refer to.

Significant surplus in our existing energy can be achieved by enhancing our technology use and at the same time enhancing our own technology sector. Having new homes generating their own electricity and selling it back to the grid is one of the goals.

eViL tRoLl wrote:

Deank wrote:"Sell surplus energy to the Americans who can't generate enough for themselves, and do it in a way that is renewable, and fairly environmentally sound.

So if there is surplus energy why are they pushing those nasty toxic "energy saver" light bulbs on the public? These buggers are the next environmental disaster in waiting. Break one and try to clean up the mercury ...

Not a fan of those lights either. Though I take it you haven't broken one before have you? The mercury in a CFL is in a vapor form, and can't really be "Cleaned up" like traditional mercury spills. And Florescent lights have been used for decades. Like CFL's they contain mercury as well. We should be moving to solid state lights. Last damn near forever.

I laugh though at Hydro's continued "Energy Saver" programs, the premise behind it is not to save power, but so they can sell more to the US. Which is fine, I have no problem with that, just don't promote energy saving to save the environment cause it really isn't. Promote it in a way that hits peoples pockets and people will understand better.

They did try premoting it like that at one point umm.. last year?

But when they sell it to the states cheaper then they sell it to us.. that kinda makes no sense at all.

So change the price? Why is that so difficult? If the Americans don't like it then get electricity from somewhere else... Oh wait they really can't.

Stonekiller wrote:So change the price? Why is that so difficult? .

Cant answer that, once we form government I will give you an answer though.

Here's a crazy one thats only related in that its about electricity

The UK has completely gone nuts in its power usage. They PAY producers to not generate electricity at time. Sometimes at 9 times the going market price if they would be selling the electricity....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/8770937/Wind-farm-paid-1.2-million-to-produce-no-electricity.html

A problem we have is that we are far from our markets and building transmission lines is very, very costly.



We want to own the lines so the problem is how we can grow enough nards to include those costs in our sale price.



Couple that with the fact we cannot negotiate worth crap....and we have a problem, Houston.



We need a new provincial government and new management at Hydro imo. Simple.

JTF wrote:A problem we have is that we are far from our markets and building transmission lines is very, very costly.



We want to own the lines so the problem is how we can grow enough nards to include those costs in our sale price.



Couple that with the fact we cannot negotiate worth crap....and we have a problem, Houston.



We need a new provincial government and new management at Hydro imo. Simple.

very much agreed, thankfully we are at the least getting a new leader at Hydro since he quit

I realistically can not conceive how if nothing else the NDP will slip to minority and will have to govern as a minority and maybe give their heads a shake about how they are thinking and dealing with Hydro.