Far from running out of steam, the environmental movement of Mothers at the Front, created in 2020, has moved from “adolescence to adulthood” this year, believes its co-founder Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette. In 2023, the group was particularly keen to give a greater platform in the media to experts who deal with “urgent” subjects.
“How is it that we invite stars more easily to a popular show than political scientists or scientists? » raises the mother of three children in an interview at Duty. Some experts are, however, “real rock stars,” she continues, mentioning among others the professor and researcher in physical oceanography at the Rimouski Institute of Sea Sciences, Dany Dumont.
This year, the Mothers at the Front project entitled Porte-voix sought to remedy the situation with the help of a “commando” of media interventions. “Artists are placed in pairs with scientists,” explains M.me Barbeau-Lavalette. The actors or singers then use part of their platform to make the knowledge of these experts resonate.
The goal is that ultimately, these researchers will have the speaking time they deserve in the media. With this initiative, Mothers at the Front allows artists to contribute to the fight for the climate, rejoices the woman who is also a director.
For children elsewhere
From adolescence to adulthood
Currently, there is a certain “fatigue” within environmental groups in Quebec, notes Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette. “I understand it, but it doesn’t happen with us. There are more and more members. » More than 12,000 women are actively involved in the organization spread across 32 local groups in Quebec, and even elsewhere.
Last January, Mères au front incorporated as a company and received a large sum from the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation. “We have structured our organization and we now have four employees,” explains M.me Barbeau-Lavalette.
The group can therefore better equip its local factions in their mobilizations. One of those that continued this year concerns arsenic emissions from the Horne foundry in Rouyn-Noranda, in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. In September 2023, women stretched out on the sidewalk near the Montreal office of Prime Minister François Legault to demand “the fundamental right of the population to a healthy environment”. “We’re not going to give up,” says Mme Barbeau-Lavalette.
One of the places where I feel most useful at the moment as an artist, citizen and woman is within Mothers at the Front Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette”
The latter believes that the “beauty” of the movement lies in its “decentralization”. “It is neither in Montreal nor in Quebec that we choose for which fight we will rise. Every month, we hold a large circle where representatives from each group of Mothers at the Front talk to each other. Several of us listen to what worries local groups. They will take action on what concerns them,” she explains.
The one who is also an author notes that one of the big issues in 2024 will be that of Northvolt, the future battery component factory in Montérégie. “It’s a beautiful dilemma which is very modern and interesting to study because it offers an alternative to fossil fuels. » However, the natural site which will be largely destroyed to make way for this industrial establishment has no less than 74 wetlands, revealed The duty last November. “You have to document the risks of the project,” she says.
Always useful
Taking action helps chase away depression and eco-anxiety, according to Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette. “One of the places where I feel most useful at the moment as an artist, citizen and woman is within Mothers at the Front. »
The organization is unifying because it is centered around children, adds director Frédérique Bérubé. In interview at Duty, she, a member of the movement since 2020, is delighted with the “strong symbol” of one of the group’s projects which was carried out with young people, namely the “generation chairs”; 78 of them were placed in municipalities and 5 were installed in MPs’ offices to remind leaders of the impact of their decisions today on the adults of tomorrow.
One of the chairs is also trying to make its entry into the National Assembly of Quebec, and 40 others are being made by artists in different cities. These seats allow children to voice their fears about their future due to climate change, says the mother of a six-year-old girl with emotion.