Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner spent the final night of his nine-day, 2,500-kilometre tour around the province speaking to supporters in downtown Barrie, Wednesday.
Seventy people listened at the Creative Space as Schreiner and local candidates Keenan Aylwin (Barrie-Springwater-Oro-
Schreiner wraps up his 21-city Green Vision Tour on Thursday in Orangeville before heading home to Guelph.
The climate around Ontario leading up to the June 7 election has people “hungry for change," Schreiner told Village Media ahead of Wednesday’s event in Barrie.
“Everywhere I’m going, people are telling me they’re sick of the three status-quo parties, they’re sick of the political games, and they’re sick of policies that benefit wealthy insiders and big corporate donors,” he said.
“They just want to vote for a party that puts people first. They want change and want a whole new way of doing politics.”
The Greens are running on a platform of ‘jobs, people and planet.’
“People are telling me they’re ready to leap into the future and create a 21st century with clean-economy jobs that are going to put people and planet first,” he said. “And that’s how we’re going to build prosperity and liveable communities, and it’s moving forward.”
Schreiner said the party has made inroads in the last several years and he hopes they can finally place a member in the provincial legislature this summer.
“I think we’re going to elect our first Green MPP in this election, I’m very confident in that,” he said. “We’ll join British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick who’ve all elected Green MPPs.
“I’m hoping that if things fall right for us, we’ll even do what the PEI Greens and B.C. Greens have done and elect Ontario’s first Green caucus,” Schreiner added.
Ahead of Wednesday’s event, Schreiner also talked about the Liberals’ provincial budget, which was presented earlier in the day.
He believes it missed the mark on areas such as affordable housing, climate change and help for small businesses.
“More than anything, it’s a power-buying effort by the Liberals because they’re worried,” he said. “It’s a desperate attempt for them to hang onto power.”
Affordable housing is an area that needs more attention across the province, he said.
“We have a real crisis in Ontario,” Schreiner said.
