Active transportation and public transportation, climate change resilience initiatives, short food circuits and more generally “the well-being of Quebecers” are at the heart of the demands of environmental groups in anticipation of the provincial government’s budget which will be unveiled on Tuesday.
Posted at 5:18 p.m.
The David Suzuki Foundation hopes the budget will be “very ambitious” when it comes to climate and energy, public transport, adaptation to climate change and the health of our ecosystems.
“The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tells us that our society is adapting very poorly to the current risks of climate change, food insecurity and increasing energy insecurity” , underlines the director general for Quebec and the Atlantic, Sabaa Khan, adding that the government’s intentions “must be aligned with scientific knowledge”.
Sabaa Khan hopes that public transport, whose revenues have decreased significantly during the pandemic, “receives large sums”, because it “must provide an alternative to the solo car which is really the problem in Quebec”.
Transportation is responsible for approximately 40% of Quebec’s GHG emissions.
Financing natural infrastructure
The David Suzuki Foundation is calling on the government to devote at least 1% of Quebec’s infrastructure budget to the development of natural infrastructure that is “very important in climate adaptation and that increases resilience to climate change”.
Sabaa Khan gives the example of trees, gardens and green roofs in urban areas, which make it possible to combat heat islands, but also to sequester and store carbon and thus reduce pollution.
She also points out that the role of natural infrastructure such as forests and wetlands in flood prevention is widely documented.
Inflation should not be an excuse
For Marc-André Viau, director of government relations at Équiterre, inflation should not be an excuse to reduce efforts in the fight against climate change.
“We are aware that people need air financially and there is a way to give them some while fighting the climate crisis. »
For example, Équiterre argues that by helping citizens to use active transportation more, the government would help fight pollution, while reducing household transportation bills.
“We can invest in active transportation for cyclists and pedestrians, the government has provided $6 million in its plan for a green economy, but we can easily improve this funding,” says Marc-André Viau.
As with every budget presentation, public transit is one of the priority demands of environmentalist groups, “but we also need to increase public transit in the regions, and not just in urban areas,” specifies Équiterre’s director of government relations.
Electric vehicles
Équiterre would like the incentive programs for the purchase of electric vehicles to be financed by the owners of energy-intensive and polluting vehicles.
“We could also modulate the incentives so that they take people’s income more into account,” says Marc-André Viau.
While the government has let it be known that it does not intend to subsidize the purchase of electrically assisted bicycles, Équiterre would like Quebec to “reassess its position” on the subject.
“We believe that the electric bicycle is a way to abandon the automobile and therefore reduce greenhouse gases,” says Équiterre’s director of government relations.
Public transport and road network
The TRANSIT alliance, which is made up of some sixty organizations, including Équiterre and the David Suzuki Foundation, is asking the government “to balance investments 50/50 between public transit and the road network”.
The alliance argues that currently in Quebec, the investment ratio is still largely to the advantage of the road network, while it is practically the opposite in Ontario.
TRANSIT is asking that Quebec adopt a moratorium on highway development for commuting purposes in favor of road repairs and public transportation.
“As governments prepare to invest record sums in public transit, it is important that project leaders demonstrate rigor and transparency in order to ensure that the choices made meet demonstrated needs and maximize the ‘use of public transport,’ reads a press release issued by the alliance.
The environment at the heart of the demands of the G15+
The G15+ collective, for its part, calls on the government to “place the well-being” of Quebecers at the heart of the provincial budget.
The G15+ is made up of a vast coalition of organizations, which do not always have the same priorities, such as the David Suzuki Foundation, the Conseil du patronat du Québec, the Ordre des urbanistes du Québec, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce du Québec or the Coalition of Community Organizations for Workforce Development.
These organizations are asking Quebec to reinforce the use of social and environmental criteria and to make them mandatory in the awarding of public contracts.
The G15+ would like to see the government put in place “precise and increasing targets for responsible procurement”, in a logic of short circuits. Short local circuits aim, among other things, to reduce the distance between the consumer and the producer. They therefore often make it possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to transport.
Thus, the collective would like the government to support municipalities and business development corporations (SDCs) in promoting local businesses and in initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to the transportation of goods.
According to G15+, Quebec should support economic initiatives that “promote safer vehicles that are adapted to the environment”. G15+ points to the young Montreal delivery company Courant Plus as an example of success in this area. It uses electrically assisted cargo bikes, electric cars and electric trucks.
In the same logic, local food systems such as public and neighborhood markets and projects that allow farmers to sell directly to consumers must be valued by the government, according to the collective.
Resilient agricultural practices
G15+ recommends that the government financially support agricultural practices that are resilient to climate change. This type of agriculture generally involves a type of practice which avoids the waste of water resources, which makes it possible to diversify the species and varieties cultivated unlike monoculture, which promotes good soil health and which respects biodiversity.
Increasing purchases of Quebec foods by schools, hospitals and departments and agencies is also part of the recommendations of the G15+ group and most environmental groups.