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Dear Friend,
The Fall Sitting of the Legislature wrapped up last Wednesday, and
many are calling it the best sitting yet for the Green Official
Opposition. In all Greens passed three impactful pieces of legislation
and five motions, and contributed massively to the direction and
well-being of this province through the issues they raised.
“This is a thrilling time for Prince Edward Island,” said
Peter Bevan-Baker, Leader of the Official Opposition.
“This fall sitting has been a highlight of my career. I couldn’t be
prouder of the tremendous and life-changing work by my colleagues in
the Green caucus.”
Truly, great things happen when Greens are in the
House!
In this update, we will provide an overview of what Greens
accomplished in the PEI Legislature this fall, including highlights
since our last update at the end of October.
 PEI made Canadian history last week with the
unanimous passage of Lynne Lund's Non-Disclosure
Agreements Act.
In the past, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) have been used to
silence victims of unlawful acts. The new legislation provides
critical protections and support for Islanders who have been subject
to harassment or discrimination.
“This is truly an historic day,” said Lynne Lund, Official
Opposition Critic for Justice and Public Safety. “With the passing of
this legislation - the first of its kind in Canada - Islanders can be
confident that their rights and needs are respected and protected when
it comes to organizations attempting to silence victims and cover-up
misconduct.”
>>Read
more:
Historic Green legislation to prevent organizations
from silencing Islanders experiencing harassment and discrimination
through NDAs passes unanimously
P.E.I. Legislature backs bill to limit NDAs
from silencing harassment and discrimination victims (CBC News Nov 16,
2021)
Bill to restrict NDA use in sexual
misconduct and discrimination cases passes 3rd reading on P.E.I.
(CBC News Nov 17,
2021)
P.E.I. becomes first Canadian province to
put guardrails on use of NDAs as gag orders ( The Guardian November
17th, 2021)
NDA bill prompted by repeated questions
about gag orders in P.E.I.'s civil service ( The Guardian November
12th 2021)
>>Watch: Lynne Lund talks about why the passing of the NDA Act
was a highlight for her this Fall Sitting.
 On the final day of
the Fall Sitting, Hannah Bell introduced and passed a
simple bill with major implications for renters on PEI,
imposing a two-year moratorium on so-called
"renovictions".
A renoviction is when a landlord evicts a tenant by
claiming that they’re going to complete major renovations to a rental
unit, as allowed under the current Rental of Residential Property
Act (which the government has been promising to overhaul for two
years but still hasn't done). However, all too often these kinds of
evictions are done in bad faith, as a pretext for vacating a unit for
the sole purpose of putting it back on the market at much a much
higher rent.
There have been hundreds of renovictions this year alone, creating
impossible personal crises for the tenants in the midst of the ongoing
provincial housing crisis. This requires immediate action.
 The moratorium, which took immediate effect,
means that any eviction notices that have been recently served for the
purpose of renovations are now null and void. Landlords may now only
evict tenants for renovations if they are necessary for the health and
safety of the occupants or of the building.
“We are doing the work that government has not made a priority –
Islanders cannot face another winter with the stress and worry that
they might find an eviction notice on their door when they get home,”
said Bell. “I implore the King government to stop doing things in half
measures and make housing a priority and ensure every Islander can
enjoy the basic human right of shelter and home.”
>>Read
more:
Green legislation for partial moratorium on
renovictions passes
P.E.I. passes bill implementing two-year
moratorium on 'renovictions' ( The Guardian Nov 18, 2021)
P.E.I.
declares moratorium on 'renovictions' for 2 years (CBC Nov 17,
2021)
 Also last week, Trish Altass'
bill, the Pay Transparency Act, received unanimous support in
the House to make PEI only the second province in Canada to adopt such
progressive legislation.
Thanks to this new law, Island workers will enjoy increased
protection and equality in the workplace when it comes to
compensation. It is also expected that this legislation will improve
labour mobility, which will play an important part in addressing our
labour shortage.
“Despite greater economic participation by women and the
advancement of more women into senior positions, the gender wage gap
persists as an issue,” explained Trish Altass, Official Opposition
Critic for Economic Growth, Tourism and Culture.
“This legislation protects against past pay being used to
inform future wages, especially where that past pay was
discriminatory,” said Altass. “I am pleased to see MLAs from both the
Third Party and Government support this bill.”
>>Read
more:
Green legislation tackling unfair wages and wage gaps
passes second reading
 One of the most hope-inspiring moments in the
Legislature during this sitting was when the motion calling for the
establishment of a Citizens'
Assembly on Proportional Representation passed, brought forward by
Steve Howard and Peter Bevan-Baker,
passed with support from MLAs in all three parties.
The motion was inspired by a motion created and passed by Green
Party members during our Annual General Meeting last spring, as part
of our grassroots policy development process.
Last Friday, Premier Dennis King, who was not present during the
debate and vote on the motion but has expressed strong support for
proportional representation in the past, said he would take the motion
seriously, and his government would decide in the new year how to move
forward.
Citizens'
assembly to explore electoral reform on P.E.I. could be created in new
year, premier says (CBC, November 19, 2021)
>>Watch: Steve Howard follows up on the Citizens Assembly
motion with a Member Statement on November 17th
>>Read
more:
A Citizens' Assembly on Proportional Representation -
Motion passed!
P.E.I. Legislature approves citizens' assembly to
design electoral reform system (CBC October 20, 2021)
 As reported last month, a very impactful Green
motion by leader Peter Bevan-Baker adopted early in
the Fall Sitting called on the government to expand the scope of practice for
pharmacists on PEI, so that they, like their colleagues
in many other provinces, can take on work they are trained for but not
currently allowed to do, such as prescribing medications for
simple ailments like ear and eye infections, prescribing birth
control, renewing prescriptions and ordering blood work and
interpreting the results.
This measure could help relieve some of the pressure on
doctors and emergency rooms, and make it easier for Islanders
(including the more than 20,000 on the waiting list for a doctor) to
access care. And PEI pharmacists themselves have been asking for this
for the past two decades!
>>Watch: Peter Bevan-Baker on his work to reduce barriers
between Islanders and primary health care, including the pharmacists
motion and his request for Skip the Waiting Room fees to be covered
for Islanders without a family doctor.
 Karla Bernard and Steve
Howard tabled and passed a motion entitled Calling on government to use a Childs’ Rights Impact
Assessment on all policy and legislative
development.
As Karla Bernard explained, a Childs' Rights Impact Assessment, or
CRIA, "is a tool used to ensure that the principle of the best
interest of the child is placed at the heart of any legislation,
service, program, or budgetary spend... Public policy is strongest
when the best interest of the child is made a priority and when the
impacts on children are specifically considered throughout the policy
development process."
"The first and most important value of the best interests of the
child is to remind adults that children are important, that their
interests are different from those of adults and that adults need to
consider the impact of their decisions for children as a top
priority."
Implementing a CRIA was a recommendation put forward
by the government's own Child & Youth Advisory Council, but not
acted upon by the government.
>>Watch: Karla Bernard speaks about her motion on a Childs'
Rights Impact Assessment
 Lynne Lund and Trish
Altass passed an innovative motion called Supporting the mental health of Islanders through
artistic, cultural, and social activity.
This motion points to the growing evidence of the mental health
benefits of social prescribing, i.e. prescribing participation in
artistic, cultural, and social activities in lieu of medication, and
asks the government to develop a gift card program for Islanders
struggling with mental health issues and low incomes to be able to
attend artistic, cultural, and social activities.
Not only would this have benefits for patients, but for businesses
and organizations in those sectors, which have been hard hit by
COVID-19.
>>Watch: Trish Altass and Lynne Lund discuss their successful
motion calling for the government to support the prescription of
artistic, cultural and social activity to Islanders struggling with
mental health
 Health Critic Michele Beaton,
seconded by Karla Bernard, brought forward and passed
a motion calling on the Department of Health
and Wellness to support preventative pelvic floor health on
PEI.
As the motion notes, incontinence impacts hundreds of persons with
vaginas, often aggravated by childbirth and other physical and
hormonal changes. Often, the only solution they are provided is
surgery.
Incontinence is one of the top reasons that women are admitted to
long-term care. Early preventative intervention may reduce the
long-term cost to our health care system and quality of life for
seniors.
There are many things that can be done to prevent and
help correct such problems though improved pelvic floor health. Some
of this can be done through simple exercises at home or with the help
of a physiotherapist.
This motion calls for the government to promote an education
campaign on pelvic floor health, help and prevention, and to fund
pelvic floor exams and treatment for Island seniors.
Bill and motions aren't the only way Greens make change in the
Legislature - Green MLAs influence the direction of the province
through the questions they ask, their contributions to debates,
amendments they propose to improve bills moved by other parties, and
through their work on committees and outside the Legislature helping
their constituents.
The following is by no means comprehensive list of what Green MLAs
are saying and doing, but simply a selection of highlights focussing
on the final two weeks of the Fall Sitting (see our October Update for highlights of
the first two weeks).
Wondering what Greens are doing on a particular issue not
featured here? Write to us at [email protected] and we'll do our best to
respond to your question!
 Making PEI Canada's First Net Zero Agricultural
Province
Green Party leader and Agriculture Critic Peter
Bevan-Baker opened debate on a motion called "Establishing
Prince Edward Island as Canada's first net zero agricultural
province."
>>Read more: Opposition motion encourages PEI to become
first net zero agricultural province (Nov 17, 2021, Island
Farmer)
Improving the Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) Program
In a similar vein, Green Environment Critic Hannah
Bell opened started debate on a motion to improve the
Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) Program - a unique PEI program
that helps farmers protect watercourses and wetlands, reduce soil
erosion, boost grassland bird biodiversity, enhance other types of
ecologically sensitive lands, and more, but which is severely
underfunded to meet the demand and the today's
needs.
Thanks to this motion and questions on the same
subject asked by Peter Bevan-Baker during Question Period, the
Minister of Agriculture has committed to increasing the budget for the
ALUS program. We'll make sure he does!
>>Read more: Thompson commits to additional funding for
ALUS program (Nov 17, 2021, Island
Farmer)
Strengthening the Lands Protection Act (LPA)
During the fall sitting, the government tabled its long awaited
amendments to the Lands Protection Act, to plug the major
loophole that allowed corporations to transfer and acquire large land
holdings without cabinet oversight by trading corporate shares instead
of transferring land title outright.
However, Greens found the government's proposed grace period of
nine years for corporations to divest of land held in excess of the
limits imposed by the LPA excessive.
Greens moved to amend the government's legislation by reducing the
divestment grace period from nine years to four years. However, in the
end the government agreed to only reduce the grace period to 7
years.
 PEI's Healthcare crisis was a major theme for the
Green Caucus this sitting:
-
- Following the release by the PEU Nurses Union of a moving video on social media highlighting the
seriousness of their situation, Peter
Bevan-Baker questioned the Premier and Health Minister on
what their government is doing to deal with the nursing staff shortage
and frequent 24-hour shifts, and to protect nurses from the violence
they are increasingly being subjected to at work.
- Health Critic Michele Beaton raised the issue of
paramedic shortages, sharing information that on some days, multiple
ambulances are remaining unmanned due to staffing shortages, putting
Islanders at risk.
-
Michele Beaton continued to raise questions about the
government's opaque decision to hand over the management of mobile
mental health units to Medavie, a private corporation.
-
Michele Beaton fired a series of questions at the
government about it's continued failure to ensure adequate psychiatric
beds and mental health resources to meet the demand, in spite of its
many grandiose promises.
>>Read more: Not enough mental health beds available on
P.E.I., Opposition claims (CBC, Nov 05,
2021)
 Housing, PEI's other H-crisis, continues to be a
major focus for the Green Official Opposition Caucus.
 Justice Critic Lynne Lund made a
powerful call for vastly improved access to legal
aid, which is currently only available to the very poorest
Islanders and for a limited selection of legal issues only, creating
access to justice issues for many Islanders facing high legal fees or
the need to put themselves as a disadvantage by attempting to
represent themselves in court.
>>Read more: Opposition calling for expansion of P.E.I.
legal aid (CBC, Nov 04, 2021)
Lynne Lund also urged the government to consider
waiving the fees and simplifying the bureaucratic for those undergoing
gender transitions and applying to
change their legal names and genders. Such changes can currently
cost more than $200, a high price to pay for many.
The Justice
minister acknowledged that those fees were exorbitant and was unaware
of the issue, and promised to have his department look into them.
>>Read
more:
'Exorbitant' name, gender change costs in
P.E.I. may change ( The Guardian, Nov 17th 2021)
Green MLA calls on government to remove fees
for name, gender change for transitioning Islanders (CBC, Nov 17, 2021)
Economic Growth Critic Trish Altass and
leader Peter Bevan-Baker highlighted the ways in
which regular workers are being left behind by the King government.
This includes the fact there were no worker voices represented in the
Premier's Economic Recovery Council or its final report, and the
continued failure of minimum wage increases to keep up with the rising
cost of living - let alone bring us closer to living wages.
Lynne Lund questioned the ministers of Justice and
Education about what plans the government has for rolling our
education on sexual harassment in PEI schools, on the underreporting
of sexual violence, and the need for a seismic shift in our culture,
starting in schools. Watch a video of this
exchange.
Thank you for
catching up with us! We will continue to keep you posted on what
Greens are doing to improve the lives of
Islanders.
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