Green Party of British Columbia

Skeena Electoral District

Roger Benham

Roger Benham Lives in his own hand-built log house high above Telkwa on the edge of the forest. He has lived as a homesteader for over 20 years since resigning his previous job as a big-city-dwelling big-building consulting engineer. Having twice hand-cleared about 6 acres, he has a great understanding of the natural life relationships surrounding us. He also sells as art his own colour photographic prints in shops in Terrace and Smithers. He is an active member of the folk music scene where he sings with his partner Jeannie and in a group called Renascence. He believes very strongly in sustainable logging , farming & fishing and caring about all people for all time having lived on land that had been farmed for trees and crops for many generations, free of poisons and plastic waste.

The B.C. Green Party is the Provincial arm (of the Canadian arm) of a global political movement. Greens have been elected to parliaments in many countries in the world. We are the counter-balance to the global corporation control take-over by an ever deceasing number of companies who answer to the profit-driven motivations of their far-flung shareholders and their senior directors. Profit motivation "forgets" about environmental impact and the degradation of people's lives where resources are extracted.It is now 40 years since the publication of Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring" yet the chemical lobby still continues to advocate the whole-scale poisoning of plants and soil. With the blessings of even the NDP the huge forestry corporations demand to spray poisons which enter twigs or leaves which are then consumed by herbivores, which in turn are consumed by carnivores, either of which (along with berries and fruit from those bushes ) are often consumed by people. Each time the level of poison increases, laid down often in fat cells. Some of those poisons enter the soil killing microbiotic life forms which are vital to the health of all life processes including ourselves. This is what ecology is all about. Eventually we suffer for it.

I was a professional engineer (P.Eng, Ret'd), and have been a farmer and homesteader in the Bulkley valley, Skeena Riding for ten years after having spent ten years homesteading in the Robson Valley close to McBride,B.C.

The Green Party supports deep ecological principles and a sustainable economy. Greens are members of dozens of parliaments and legislatures around the world. A vote for the Green Party sends a clear environmental message from the communities of the Skeena Riding.

A vote for the Green Party is a vote for change, a vote that represents conscience and community, the intrinsic value of diverse ecosystems, a vote for environmental and economic sustainability and an alternative to an economy controlled by corporate interests.

I don't say don't cut down trees, don't fish, don't mine. I say think well as a community before doing so.

Once something has been mined it is no longer there to mine and

the community closest to it has so much less wealth in its bank.

That community has that much less future invested wealth.

One should always consider how much (relatively) that might be worth in the future.

Oil is a wonderful case in point as with present consumption rates there will most likely be almost none left to extract in 13 years time and so anyone who has any then will be close to monopolizing the price.

Green Party, Skeena

Roger Benham

A vote for the Green Party is a vote for change, a vote that represents conscience and community, the intrinsic value of diverse ecosystems, a vote for environmental and economic sustainability and an alternative to an economy controlled by corporate interests.

I don't say don't cut down trees, don't fish, don't mine. I say think well as a community before doing so.

I am providing you an opportunity to vote Green in our upcoming Provincial election. The Green Party is the electoral wing of the green movement. Ecological politics is making important gains every year. There are over 100 Green Parties around the world, and Greens are elected to dozens of parliaments and legislatures, participating in governments in countries like Mexico, Germany, Italy, Norway, France, Austria, Australia and New Zealand. A vote for the Green Party sends a clear environmental message from the communities of the Skeena Riding.

I once was a professional engineer (P.Eng.) designing huge buildings including hospitals but I have been a farmer and homesteader living in the Bulkley valley for the last 10 years after doing the same in the Robson Valley near McBride, B.C.

I support the Green Party of British Columbia's platform, and promote the integration of deep ecological principles, local community involvement, raising awareness of environmental toxins and promoting thoughtful economic planning. I support advancing human rights and rights to a healthy environment as put forth by the United Nations. I believe in environmental protection and reducing the impact on nature by each person and corporation. I believe in a fair and just transition to socially equitable and environmentally sound politics, economics and employment. I believe in sharing and caring, doing the best for people and valuing land today and for tomorrow. I wish to engage in full consultation, and a process of negotiation, listening, and resolution. I support the following values:

1. Clean air: local initiatives that back the Kyoto agreement in reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming; alternatives to beehive burners; energy conservation and less-polluting renewable energy sources (solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, fuel cells and biological waste); alternative transportation initiatives for goods and people (trains, mass transit, bicycle power, fuel cells) that are cleaner and consider lower fuel availability in the future.

2. Clean water: healthy forests maintain stable watersheds for our community water supplies; phase out the input of existing toxic chemicals (such as tri-butyl tin) to our waters; clean up toxic waste sites; improve sewage treatment facilities; promote forest and water conservation. Discouragement of the use of poisons by all people.

3. Sustainable fisheries and forests: restore wild fish stocks and enforce the Fisheries Act; ecosystem based landuse planning initiatives; ecologically responsible alternatives to large clearcuts, such as selective cutting; community based forestry initiatives that preserve wholistic forest values throughout the life of the forest.

4. Provincial Parks have achieved 12% of land base in B.C. but not in each ecosystem as agreed with the UN; improve integrity of existing provincial parks.

5. Health care: increase spending on and improve universal health care and provide more nurses and beds in hospitals; encourage preventative medicine; give nurses a greater mandate for what they can provide &. taking responsibility away from the doctors & giving it to the nurses thereby easing the doctors' burden. Encourage walk-in nursing clinics staffed by nurses and health care workers. Concern and Care for the aged and less fortunate. A healthy environment leads to healthy people. For every dollar spent in environmental protection, many dollars are saved in health care down the road. Encouraging the public towards healthy living styles and life choices.

6. Judicial Reform: the Ecological Bill of Rights will ensure people's rights to healthy air, water and food & directly impacts on their health; citizens can take polluters to court; UN Public Trust Laws-an alternative to vested economic interest by corporations; support of human rights including labour rights, women's rights, indigenous rights, rights to safe food, clean water, corporate free education, universally accessible health care & reduction of environment-induced diseases.

7. Free Education: subsidized corporate-free university and college education. Free tuition for first degrees.

8. Healthy food: labeling genetically modified foods; tax incentives and support to local organic agriculture; organic certification system; facilitate research on safety of organic versus genetically modified food. Requiring genetically-modified food to be proven to be safe before approval to be marketed.

9. Healthy animals: legislate an Endangered Species Act to protect threatened species along with their habitat as dictated by careful research, not by politics; oppose abuse of animals and testing; care and respect at all levels.

10. Healthy economy: community based economies; promote Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS); job creation-community based economies will replace corporate control and create more jobs; reduce work week to 32 hours thereby also creating more employment.

11. Community control of resources: withdraw from the World Trade Organization and NAFTA and negotiate international fair trade with UN public trust laws; research and subsidise alternatives to subsidized primary resource extraction and subsidies to oil and gas energy.

12. End poverty: equitable distribution of resources; guaranteed income supplement to unemployed, underemployed, low-paid workers and parents staying at home; low-income housing; child tax benefits.

13. Full consultation of communities: maintain a presence in all communities, including First Nations' Communities; full First Nations Consultation; give voice to all concerned interest groups.

14. Forum for alternatives based in deep environmental principles that conserve the integrity of ecosystems; encourage existing environmental initiatives coming from our communities; more efficient use of resources, and therefore a smaller environmental footprint per person.

15. Phasing out harmful, destructive use of resources: fair and just transition of workers and communities; phase out subsidies to resource industries including forestry, mining, nuclear energy, oil and gas industries& polluting activities; support moratorium on gas and oil exploration on the British Columbia coast, as it could severely impact the environment.

16. Implement Precautionary Principle: think before you act; encourage full-cost accounting-from birth to grave of all products-in all resource and business activities; enforce waste reduction in existing activities and in new business ventures.

17. Enforcing the polluter pay principle. Increase and enforce fines and taxes on polluters. Introduce tax incentives for green energy producers - $0.05/kWh tax credit; rebates for green consumers

18. Reformed tax system: capital transfer tax initially of 0.025% shifts the tax burden off individual incomes to large financial organizations and reduces provincial debt; use revenue generated from taxation of fossil fuels to fund public transportation infrastructure and transfer funds to other social and environmental programs.

19. Proportional representation. Most democracies today use some form of proportional representation, in which the share of seats that parties receive after elections is equal to their share of the popular vote. For example, a party with 15% of the overall vote receives 15% of the overall seats. Every vote counts, so there's no need for "strategic voting." End to corporate sponsorship of political parties and campaigns and taxpayer payment of election costs.

20. Thoughtful planning: plan for the interests, employment and resources of future generations. A vote for the green party is a vote for an alternative that advocates the interests of your grandchildren.

A vote for the Green Party is a vote for change, a vote that represents conscience and community, the intrinsic value of diverse ecosystems, a vote for environmental and economic sustainability and an alternative to an economy controlled by corporate interests which are in turn controlled by millions of shareholders who are so far removed from what is generating their dividends that they think not at all about how the money is made nor at what cost to either environment nor to people's homes and lives. I don't say don't cut down trees, don't fish, don't mine. I say think well as a community before doing so.

Caring : We must all learn to care about everything, everyone, every action, every species, about the health of our planet and what we leave to the descendents of our descendents.

Vote : GREEN Vote : ROGER BENHAM

Woodmere Lodge, RR-1 S-18 C-5 , Telkwa , B.C. ,V0J 2X0

Phone: (250) 877-9084 (messages)

Fax: (250) 847-1441

Email: [email protected]

Green Party of BritishColumbia

Skeena Electoral District

Roger Benham

Woodmere Lodge, RR-1 S-18 C-5, Telkwa, B.C.,VOJ 2XO Tel: 250-877-9084 [messages] Fax : 250 847-1441

e-mail : [email protected]

Green Party of British Columbia

Skeena Electoral District

Roger Benham

For the Environment

VOTE GREEN