Greens get top marks from activists

Last Updated: Saturday, September 4, 2010 | 11:59 AM ET

CBC News

Environmental activists have graded the parties in the provincial election campaign and, in their eyes, the Greens have lived up to their name.

The Environmental Network conducted a survey for several lobby groups including the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, the Wilderness Society, and Environnement Vie.

They gave top marks to the Green Party, followed in order by the People's Alliance Party, the NDP, and the Progressive Conservatives.

The ruling Liberals did not answer the survey.

Florian Levesque, with Environnement Vie, said one of the factors in the survey was the party's attitudes toward the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station, which is currently going through a refurbishment that is running far over budget.

"In terms of Point Lepreau, the Green Party is the only one that would cease immediately the restoration, the NDP suggests that it should be gradually eliminated," he said. "As for the Conservative and the Liberal parties, well, we know that they're the ones that have been pushing for many years the electricity produced by uranium."

Levesque said all of the parties that responded to the survey said they would put a stop to uranium mining and exploration in the province.

In 2008, the Liberal government rejected a motion that called for a moratorium on uranium exploration and mining.

The environmental network, a communications network of 80 non-profit environmental groups from across New Brunswick, collected questions from its members and distributed a 33-question survey to each party.

Other issues looked at in the survey included forestry management, emissions targets, transportation, water, and wildlife.

The network gave the Green Party a perfect score, the People’s Alliance 64 per cent, the NDP 61 per cent, and the PC party 55 per cent.