17 SEPTEMBER 2014

(FREDERICTON, NB) -- Green Party Leader David Coon says prevention needs to be front and centre in the approach to health care and health care funding in the province.

"Preventative health care has to start early, so the Green Party will double Early Childhood Home Support programs to ensure we get in on the ground floor," Coon said. "Every dollar invested in our children during those early years will pay off in the long run, both economically and in our communities."

A Green government would follow Quebec's lead in banning advertising directed at children under 12. In addition, a health tax would be applied to junk food and the revenue used to pay for school food and wellness programs.

In an effort to combat some of the cancers too prevalent in New Brunswick, a Green government would strengthen pollution regulations, establish a phased–in ban on industrial releases of cancer-causing substances and enact an Environmental Bill of Rights.

It would also increase the capacity of Medical Officers of Health to better address New Brunswick's unique social and environmental determinants of health.

"Now more than ever before we need health experts to speak up and be heard concerning environmental health risks and remedies," Coon said.

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