The role of policy in a leadership race: The Green Party prides itself on having a member-driven policy process. At the same time, the leadership race is an important opportunity to discuss the policy direction of the party. The policies proposed here, which will be brought forward at the next general meeting for member approval, represent Dimitri's vision for how the party can live its values more completely in the political environment of 2020 and beyond.

Environment Platform: the Ecological Emergency

The global ecological emergency is an existential threat. The climate crisis is already grave but is only one part of the broader picture of our broken relationship with nature. It also includes equally grim biodiversity loss, pollution and the wider ecological imbalance in our relationship with other species that is implicated in the zoonotic virus behind the current pandemic.

As young and old climate strikers insisted last year, the ecological emergency was already upon us when the pandemic highlighted another critical dimension of it. We can no longer go on abusing the nature that nurtures us. Our socialistic and internationally cooperative response will repair humanity's broken relation to nature. It is also the essential foundation for just green wellbeing the world over.

The time is now.

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Cooperative Foreign Policy for the Multipolar World

If today the world faces ecological and public health emergencies without the means to coordinate international action to address them, something is clearly wrong in the way its international relations are organized. Canada’s foreign policy has played no small part in bringing matters to this pass. Cooperative Foreign Policy for a Multipolar World proposes a radical overhaul of Canada’s foreign policy.

• End Sanctions that harm the Innocent. Criticise and end Canada's acquiescence in the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran and the US inhuman sanctions on Iran, Cuba and Venezuela.
• Resist the annexation. Impose political, military and economic sanctions on Israel for its illegal occupation and settlement.
• For the universal application of international law. Demand that the International Criminal Court (ICC) end its exclusive focus on war crimes committed by the American government’s official enemies. American and other western state war criminals must be made equally accountable for their crimes.
• Stop exporting arms. Cancel the Saudi arms deal and impose a ban on trading in arms with all states that do not comply with UN Human Rights protocols and any states whose governments are engaged in violations of such human rights.
• Total nuclear disarmament. Accede immediately to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
• Resume relations with Iran. Restore diplomatic relations with Iran as desired by Iranian Canadians, ending our complicity in US led efforts to target Iran.

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Economic Platform: Just Green Wellbeing

Our existing economy not only puts profit before people and guarantees spiralling inequality, but it is also the root cause of the ecological emergency. Economy and ecology are inextricably intertwined. To mend our relationship with the earth, we must wrest power from private corporations and bring the economy under democratic control so that it meets human needs without exceeding the limits of our planet. The vision of Just Green Wellbeing outlined here provides the foundation on which our blueprint for ‘Responding to the Ecological Emergency’ rests.

• The Time is Now
• We Can Do It
• Planning: The Key to Democracy
• Our Five Plans
• The Means to Plan

Workers' Rights

The world of work has changed. Workers' rights, both individual and collective, have deteriorated; high-quality jobs have been replaced by precarious and part-time work with few benefits and no pensions; and large corporations prey on small businesses and workers.

Workers deserve a positive work environment, high wages, and freedom from discrimination. To rejuvenate workers' rights in Canada, we must address the following areas:

• Introduction
• Improving Bargaining Rights
• Raising Wages
• Democratizing Corporate Governance
• Improving Health and Safety
• Increasing the Social Relevance of the Economy

Justice and Police Reform

In theory, Canadians have equal rights. In practice, they do not. Our justice system is neither fair nor accessible. It works best for the economic and social elites who have access to money, and who are not burdened by systemic discrimination and biases.

Our criminal justice system suffers from systemic racism and prioritizes punishment over rehabilitation. Our civil justice system is unaffordable except to the very wealthy, with women most severely affected. Government and private companies are using technology in ways that erode privacy and human rights.

Ultimately, our legal system does not fulfil the basic function of a justice system: to provide citizens with security, dignity and compassion. To create an equitable society, there are seven areas of reform we need to address:

• Police and Prosecution Reform
• Prison and Parole Reform
• Access to Justice
• Holding Corporations Accountable
• Reforming Judicial Appointments
• International Law
• CSIS, Surveillance, and Privacy

Other Public Positions

• August 17th: The Green Party Under Dimitri Will Campaign in Favour of a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) Electoral System in Canada
• March 23rd: Helping Canadians Pay for Essentials During COVID-19
• March 20th: Government Must Bail Out Oil Workers, not Oil Executives