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It's an opportunity to point out how our electoral system stands in the way of climate action, and to advise the adoption of PR as an important step towards a greener NB.

You can fill in the survey:

Or send an email: climatechangeNBchangementsclimatiques@...

CCNB has a toolkit to help with the climate-action part:

In case it helps, here's how I answered the survey questions:

Area 1 - Provincial Government Leadership:

Addressing climate change is a shared responsibility, but the role of the provincial government is critically important. The Provincial government cares about the future of New Brunswickers and believes that we can model the behaviour needed to ensure sustained and ambitious actions to address the challenges and opportunities presented by climate change.

What do you see as key opportunities in this area?

NBers drive private vehicles a great deal. This contributes to climate change as well as air pollution and the resulting negative health effects such as asthma. It's not great for traffic either. The government has an opportunity to improve inter-city transportation. Existing bus services should be expanded both in terms of reach and schedule, and existing buses gradually replaced with hybrid or electric buses. Existing rails can be repaired so that trains can run at a decent speed (they're currently slower than the buses and it's embarrassing!)
The government can provide cities with funds to improve existing bus services and add such services where they currently don't exist (ie. Oromocto).
Tolls should be set up to help fund these initiatives, both on highways and at the outskirts of cities. Private vehicle owners would have to pay while essential services and public transportation would be exempt. Free parking should be established at city outskirts so that drivers can park and ride as an alternative to paying a toll to enter the city in a private vehicle. This parking should be free to encourage use of the park-and-ride.

What are the challenges, and what do you see as potential solutions to overcome those challenges?

Political will presents the greatest challenge. Because of our electoral system, politicians are encouraged to behave in the following ways:
* Jostle for whatever safely middle-of-the road policy will win over the plurality of voters in the largest number of ridings. Bold, necessary policies fall by the wayside.
* Call a snap election in a minority government situation whenever the polls look promising. This wastes time and money that would be better spent on addressing the climate crisis, among other things.
* Fall into patterns of partisanship and bickering rather than working co-operatively with all parties for the good of the province. This negatively affects decision-making.
* Respond to the concerns of wealthy industrialists rather than the concerns of ordinary citizens. This results in the prioritization of short-term profits over more long-term concerns such as the health of the people and the land.
All of this works against climate action. That's why it is of the utmost importance to replace the current system with a made-for-NB system of proportional representation, ideally one determined by a provincial citizen's assembly. PEI provides a good example of what we should be doing.

Area 2 - Mitigation - GHG Emissions Reductions

New Brunswick has set strong reduction targets in our Climate Change Act and are currently leading the nation in reducing our GHG emissions. We have achieved our 2020 target and will need to continue with strong actions to meet our 2030 and 2050 targets.

What do you see as key opportunities in this area?

I am pleased to hear that NB leads the country in GHG emissions reduction. One great weakness of NB remains the dismal lack of provincial parks and protected land. Parks are important as carbon sinks, hindrances to excessive development, and aids to emotional well-being. The government should convert large swaths of crown land to protected parkland. We have much catching up to do.

What are the challenges, and what do you see as potential solutions to overcome those challenges?

As mentioned above, the greatest challenge is political will as moulded by our electoral system. That's why we need a binding citizen's assembly on electoral reform.

Area 3 - Adaptation to the impacts of Climate Change:

The effects of climate change in New Brunswick are evident, with more frequent and severe storm events, coastal erosion, and flooding. Adaptation to the impacts of climate change is critical in avoiding much higher costs related to human health and safety, damage to communities and infrastructures and changes in natural resources.

What do you see as key opportunities in this area?

When infrastructure is destroyed by flooding, rebuilding begins. But concrete is one of the worst things for producing greenhouse gases. In these situations, the old concrete should be replaced by a greener substitute, such as hempcrete or green concrete.

What are the challenges, and what do you see as potential solutions to overcome those challenges?

As mentioned above, the greatest challenge is political will as moulded by our electoral system. That's why we need a binding citizen's assembly on electoral reform.

Area 4 - Economic Opportunities:

We know the world is transitioning to a clean economy. In order to continue our transition to a low-carbon economy, New Brunswick recognizes the need to support advances in clean technology that will help us achieve our GHG emission targets and improve our overall environmental performance in all sectors and regions.

What do you see as key opportunities in this area?

Every empty rooftop is an opportunity to install a solar panel. Every leaky house is an invitation to wrap with insulation and replace old windows with triple-glazed windows. This represents a great opportunity to create many jobs for skilled workers for years to come.
NB already has some incentives for this, and that's great. Incentives can be increased, and our weird tax on selling electricity back to the grid should be abolished.

What are the challenges, and what do you see as potential solutions to overcome those challenges?

As mentioned above, the greatest challenge is political will as moulded by our electoral system. That's why we need a binding citizen's assembly on electoral reform.

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Vivian Unger

Fredericton, NB, Canada

Land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Wolastokuk (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq

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