A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY
PAYING FOR FOR GREEN POLICY: FOUR CORE PRINCIPLES
It is not uncommon at election time to hear political parties challenge each other on their financial numbers. Often, duelling cost estimates and budgets can vary by 100% or more, depending on the assumptions made. In fact, these statements have little bearing on reality. There are simply too many unknowns that can dramatically affect a five-year budget cycle for such election-time certainty to be valid. The Green Party believes that a more responsible and democratic approach is for political parties to state their core principles of financial governance that will apply throughout their term(s) in office.
THE CORE PRINCIPLES OF GREEN PARTY FINANCIAL GOVERNANCE ARE:
1) BALANCED ANNUAL BUDGETS.
Ontario should and can be debt-free. We do not consider it prudent to run annual deficits that steadily add to an already high Ontario debt load, and which would still need to be paid off later. Instead, we would gradually pay down Ontario's financial debt and benefit from the interest payments avoided. Balancing a cumulative Budget over the whole term of office as the NDP propose has historically opened the door to chronic deficit financing.
2) A REVENUE-NEUTRAL TAX SHIFT.
We would ensure that a PARTIAL AND GRADUAL tax shift from lowering personal income taxes to new eco-taxes on the use of non-renewable resources and pollution generated would be implemented as revenue-neutral and not a new tax increase. This tax shift would be progressive and gradual to minimize economic disruption and allow for adaptation to the new system.
3) QUADRUPLE BOTTOM LINE ACCOUNTING.
All policy would be subject to additional social justice, child impact and environmental Sustainability screens. We would evaluate all policy (and modify if necessary) to ensure that Sustainability, social justice and child well-being were enhanced and not worsened by its implementation, i.e. in the case of the policy that shifts government revenue partially from progressive income taxes to resource use/pollution taxes, we would raise the basic personal tax exemption and enhance the "progressivity" of income tax rates as appropriate to avoid dis-advantaging lower-income earners by these tax changes.
4) STRATEGIC INVESTMENT SPENDING ON ILLNESS PREVENTION, POVERTY REDUCTION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION INVESTMENTS.
Strategic investment spending on illness prevention, poverty reduction, and environmental protection will help avoid much higher financial expenditures over the long term, and in many instances, it will also generate real net savings over the medium term period. We believe that a set of policies that directly seeks to protect our air, water and soil, that reduces the causes of illness and stress, that respects the rights and dignity of the poorest among us and protects children, are some of the smartest investments we can make as a society. This kind of strategic policy understands the vast and uncounted economic and social subsidies provided by a clean and renewing eco-system and a healthy population. Good policy is much more than just the amount of money spent on a problem or service.