It’s not easy being Green.

Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner launched his campaign Wednesday at Queen’s Park, but found himself competing for media attention with Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty’s visit to Lt.-Gov. David Onley for the writ-drop and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath’s election kick-off.

The affable rookie leader was not bothered by the relative lack of interest from the legislative press gallery on a busy first day of the Oct. 6 election campaign.

“We’re not concerned at all the local level. The local media covers us regularly. We’re getting an amazing response at the door. I’ve personally knocked on 5,000 doors, speaking to voters directly,” said Schreiner, who is running in Simcoe-Grey, traditionally one of the safest Progressive Conservative seats in Ontario and held by MPP Jim Wilson since 1990.

The Greens are fielding candidates in all 107 Ontario ridings and Schreiner said he’s hopeful the party can win one or two as a beachhead for future growth.

Schreiner, who unveiled his party’s platform on May 25, is promising a British Columbia-style carbon tax of 2.4 cents per litre of gasoline and wants to wean Ontario off its reliance on expensive nuclear power.

He would also freeze the wages of non-unionized public service managers through 2015 and is touting a citizens’ assembly to study moving toward a single secular public school system.

As well, he would earmark $600 million in business tax credits to encourage investment in training and apprenticeship programs to help young people get jobs.

While he may not be as visible as McGuinty, Horwath, and Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, Schreiner said Ontarians should keep an eye out for the Greens.

“We’re going to be doing a leader’s tour, there’s no question about it. We’re not going to use as much gas and diesel. We have our Honda hybrid, they have their buses and SUVs so we’re going to walk the talk in our leader’s tour,” he said, pointing to the party’s fuel-efficient silver Civic sedan.

One place Ontario voters won’t see Schreiner is on the province-wide televised leaders’ debate on Sept. 27. He was not invited by the broadcast consortium because the Greens do not have any seats in the Legislature.

But, flanked by about 30 Green candidates at Queen’s Park, Schreiner insisted only his party would bring about real change for the province.

“Politics as usual isn’t working. Things need to change. A vote for the other parties will only result in more of the same,” he said.

“If you think fairness integrity and respect for our communities belongs at Queens Park, then you think just like we do. It’s time for change, it’s time for Green.”

Key facts about Michael Schreiner

Age: 42 (June 9, 1969)

Personal: Born and raised near WaKeeney, Kan., Schreiner and his wife Sandy Welsh moved to Canada in 1995 and became Canadian citizens in 2007. The couple has two daughters, Isabelle and Beata, ages 11 and 6.

Education: He has bachelor’s degrees in business administration and history from the University of Kansas (1992) and a master’s in history from Indiana University-Bloomington (1994).

Early career: Launched a number of small businesses and non-profits related to local food, including a produce delivery service and Local Food Plus, an organization that certifies sustainable farms and food producers.

Politics: Co-chaired the Greens’ 2007 election platform committee and served as policy co-ordinator until he was elected leader in late 2009. He also acted as critic for the Premier’s Office and for agriculture and rural affairs.

- The Canadian Press

Transcript for today

Thank you everyone for coming out to launch the largest campaign in our Party’s history.

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Politics as usual isn’t working. The old parties at Queen’s Park are failing to tackle the big challenges of our time loss of traditional jobs; rising energy prices and climate change; and the sustainability of our healthcare system.

How do we strengthen our communities and provide good local jobs? How do we tackle climate change and rising energy prices in a way that saves you money and saves energy? And how do we ensure the sustainability of our healthcare system by focusing on preventing illness in the first place?

There is one political party in this province that is advocating for payroll tax reductions for small businesses - so that they can create good local jobs, strengthen our local economies and insulate them from shocks in the global economy.

There is one political party in this province that is saying we can tackle youth unemployment by providing $600 million in tax credits for businesses to invest in training and certification programs to expand apprenticeship programs and train our youth for the jobs of the 21st century.

There is one political party in this province who is going to tackle rising energy prices in a way that doesn’t play shell games with your money, and subsidize energy in ways that benefit the biggest energy users the most. I will be clear with you we are not going to subsidize energy wasters, we are going to help people like you and me save energy and save money by investing 1.6 Billion dollars in tax credits for businesses, tenants and home owners to retrofit their buildings and invest in energy efficient products to save energy today tomorrow and for years to come.

This is the only way to deliver long-term sustainable savings in the face of rising energy prices.

And finally there is only one political party in this province that is going to ensure the sustainability of our health care system by preventing illness in the first place.

Ontario spends less than almost all of the other provinces when it comes to promoting health. We are going to change that. We are going to provide Ontarians with $200 million dollars in tax credits for living healthy lifestyles.

The Green Party is the only political party that is going to invest $200 million dollars over the next 4 years in a healthy school food programs so our children get healthy start in life.

We are going to focus our health care spending on primary health care reform so every Ontarian has access to family healthcare and community care centre. We are going to prioritize investing in our seniors so that they have a continuum of care, they have adequate home care and long term care they deserve. This will take pressure off our healthcare system and provide the quality care our seniors need.

My friends, its time to quit the attack ads, the political pandering and put the cynicism of the old parties behind us.

It’s time for the Green Party of Ontario to have a seat at the leaders’ debate table so we can tackle the issues facing us today head on with pragmatic policies and sensible long term solutions.

My friends over the next 29 days we are going to take our message of hope for a positive sustainable future for ourselves our children and future generations to voters of this province. We are going to deliver Green MPPs to Queen’s Park.

Extra Quotes

Politics as usual isn’t working. Things need to change. A vote for the other parties will only result in more of the same. If you think fairness integrity and respect for our communities belongs at Queens Park, then you think just like we do. It’s time for change, it’s time for Green.