The New Democratic Party envisions a green Ontario with more bikes on the road and cars mandated to keep a metre back, solar panels on houses and an immediate shutdown of coal-fired plants.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath fired back at critics Thursday who claim the party has strayed from its environmental roots as she released the NDP green platform.

The party plans to quickly put all coal-fired plants on emergency standby, take money away from “nuclear mega-schemes,” give homeowners nearly $5,000 for retrofit upgrades and implement a four-year transit fare freeze.

It would also keep the Liberals’ feed-in-tariff program and promise to bring 10,700mw of renewable energy online by 2018.

Both the Liberals and Tories were quick to condemn the NDP for its one-metre cyclist rule and energy plans.

Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne called the cyclist scheme “unenforceable.”

“It is not well thought out or based in evidence,” she said. “We’ve got, in the Highway Traffic Act, already a provision that says vehicles have to give cyclists enough space to ride on the road.”

PC MPP Elizabeth Witmer said the NDP ideas are nothing but a “grab bag of initiatives” and that mandating cars to stay a metre away from cyclists is simply unworkable.

“I’m not sure how you’d police that,” Witmer said. “It really shows they are out of touch. People need to be able to move in this province in a way that meets their needs. We need to invest in transportation and move both people and goods.”

The NDP platform sets aside $60 million over four years to improve cycling safety in the province from creating more bike lanes to putting racks on buses.

Mandating drivers to stay a metre away from moving cyclists will educate drivers and stop accidents, Horwath said.

“If there is a cyclist on the road it is incumbent on a motorized vehicle to stay away from that cyclist by a metre,” she said. “We have to get serious on making it safe to cycle in this province.”

Drivers would face a traffic violation for coming too close, she said but didn’t elaborate on how much the ticket would be. However in Nova Scotia, which has a similar law, the fine is about $280.

Cycling advocates and the Ontario Medical Association both lauded the move to increase safety. In 2009, there were 26,000 emergency department visits due to cycling injuries in the province, according to the OMA, which released a report on the subject this week.

Conserving energy and investing in solar and wind is the way to wean Ontario off nuclear power, Horwath added.

Unlike the Tories and Liberals, the NDP does not believe 50 per cent of the province’s power needs to come through nuclear energy.

“We think it’s time to start looking at other options,” she said.

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While the refurbishment of the Pickering nuclear plant is nearly complete, Horwath said it “would be silly” to stop it. But for other refurbishments, such as Darlington, the NDP like to redirect those funds, nearly $960 million over four years, into a massive home retrofit program.

Energy Minister Brad Duguid called Horwath’s nuclear plans dangerous.

“It strikes me as being irresponsible and typical knee-jerk NDP when it comes to these important issues. She hasn’t defined where the power will come from if they have the unfortunate opportunity to not build those two units,” he said.

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