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Dear
Friend,
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Deputy leader and Summerside-Wilmot MLA Lynne Lund recently shared
this post on Facebook about a meeting with a young
constituent:
"I often reflect on how much I love this work.
Today was pretty special. I got to meet with a passionate constituent
of mine. Ashlyn is 11 years old, and wanted to talk about climate
change. I was so impressed by the depth of her knowledge, her
enthusiasm to contribute to solutions, and her leadership skills. We
brainstormed lots of ideas for action together, and I cannot wait to
hear about what she does next. We were both so enthusiastic, our hot
chocolates got cold! Ashlyn, thank you so much for taking the time to
talk. You are very brave."
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We hope everyone is doing alright after yesterday's and this
morning's blizzard! These kinds of things are good reminders of
nature's awesome power to completely alter our landscape on short
notice (and in the case of a blizzard, with great beauty!).
We've just come through another year in which it is more important
than ever to find the beauty amid all the serious challenges we have
been facing down. In fact, this is the main theme of leader
Peter Bevan-Baker's end-of-year blog, Tried, tested, and tired but not
defeated, in which he writes: "There is no end of broken
dreams in our midst, with many recent reveries shattered by COVID, but
it is indeed still a beautiful world. And PEI is a particularly
special part of this beautiful world."
On a related note, I would like to extend my thanks to all those
who contributed to our end-of-year fundraising campaign last month.
Thanks to your support, we've exceeded our $15,000 goal with
nearly $18,000 in contributions received to date! This is our
second-best year-end fundraising result ever, and is a big boon to the
work we will be doing this year and next in the lead-up to the next
election. Thank you!
Stay well, stay safe.
Jordan Bober
Executive
Director
In this newsletter:
Please join us for our very first Rural Roundtable on
January 12, 2022 (6:30-8:30pm)! Due to the new public health restrictions, this first
Roundtable will take place online via Zoom; however as soon as
circumstances permit we also hope to host in-person Rural Roundtable
conversations in communities from tip to tip.
What is the Rural Roundtable?
Rural Roundtables are designed to
start conversations with and among Islanders about the future of rural
Prince Edward Island.
We're looking to the knowledge,
experience and imagination of rural Islanders to help create a vision
of prosperity, resilience and vitality in rural Prince Edward Island.
What we talk about, and what you tell us, during the Roundtables will
help shape Green Party of PEI policies and our next platform, and will
help inform the work of the Green Official Opposition
Caucus.
CBC
News picked up on this initiative and published a story on it on
Thursday - click here to read it.
District 11
Charlottetown-Belvedere Electoral District Association -
AGM
 The D11 Greens will be holding their annual General
Meeting on January 25th at 7pm, online via Zoom. If
you are a member of the Green Party of PEI residing in
Charlottetown-Belvedere, please attend this short meeting of your
local grassroots Green Party organization, which will soon begin
planning for the next election.
Grassroots Policy
Development
 Greens are
gearing up for our next round of grassroots policy development in the
lead-up to the Spring General Meeting. Already, we have been
approached by members interested in developing policy motions in areas
such as:
- Food and agriculture
- Animal welfare
- Forestry
Later this month, we will be inviting members to a
series of policy development workshops in these and other areas, so
keep an eye on your inbox for that!
If you have a policy idea, or
simply an idea of an area where you think the party needs to develop
policy, and you are interested in a workshop to help develop your idea
into a motion to be submitted for the meeting, we would like
to hear from you!
Please send us your idea by emailing [email protected].
We can help connect you with members with similar interests or
expertise, with workshop sessions to help generate options to address
the issue (perhaps different from what you first had in mind!), and to
develop a formal motion for the general meeting.
In spite of the holidays, the
past month has been a tumultuous and anxious time for many Islanders,
with the Omicron wave and potato export ban hitting our province with
full force. The Green Official Opposition Caucus has continued to
speak up for Islanders being left behind by government actions - and
inaction.
Here are the statements that Green MLAs have released over
the past month:
 PETER BEVAN-BAKER: Minister Ernie Hudsons unacceptable absence
during the Covid Crisis (January 6, 2022)
LYNNE LUND: Families, students and teachers need more than empty
platitudes from the Education Minister (January 5,
2022)
 PETER BEVAN-BAKER: To be kind, the Premier needs to provide clarity on
COVID (December 31, 2021)
TRISH ALTASS: As Islanders face uncertainty this holiday
season, will this government act now to support Islanders while also
planning for the future? (December 24, 2021)
PETER BEVAN-BAKER: Tried, tested, and tired but not defeated (December
21, 2021)
MICHELE BEATON: Government needs to improve COVID-19 testing clinic
services (December 18, 2021)
 MICHELE BEATON: Silencing healthcare workers is damaging Islanders’
health (December 13, 2021)
KARLA BERNARD: A statement on the 30th anniversary of Canada’s
ratification of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the
Child (December 13, 2021)
KARLA BERNARD: Minister Jameson is breaking her promise to provide
menstruation products in Island schools and failing Island youth
(December 10, 2021)
Government consultations - have your
say!
The PEI government is currently looking for Islanders input on a
couple of important issues. If these issues are important to you,
please provide your input!
Residential Tenancy Act Consultations
 The government has been promising a new
Residential Tenancy Act since 2019 - and chose to call for comments on
its latest draft just before Christmas.
The new Act will affect the rights of both landlords and tenants,
so if you are either of those, you are encouraged to have a look at
what the government is proposing and share your thoughts.
Feedback is being accepted until January 14th
- click here to access the consultation draft and the feedback
form.
PEI Fight for Affordable Housing, a tenants
advocacy group, has recently released the concerns it has with the
proposed new Act here.
Pre-Budget Consultations for the 2022-2023 Operating Budget
The Finance Minister is inviting Islanders to submit their
suggestions for the 2022/23 Operating Budget either in writing or
during two online sessions on January 11th and 12th (both from
2-4pm).
Feedback is due by January 24th - click here for more information.
The Official Opposition will also be putting together a budget
requests submission to the government, so feel free to also send your
ideas to [email protected].
Learn more about the Operating Budget and tips for making
successful submissions here: www.greenparty.pe.ca/yourbudgetideas.
The Green Caucus has been
hard at work to improve the lives of Islanders. If you haven't
already, be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And check out their website at www.peigreencaucus.ca
for blogs, videos and more!
Get daily updates from the Green Party of PEI - follow us on
Facebook, Twitter or Instagram today!
We can't do any of this without
your support!
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