In a few weeks, the government of Justin Trudeau will make a crucial decision. This will have repercussions on the future of all our children, in the North and in the South, as well as on the ecological balance promulgating the very future of the living: it is a question of the acceptance or rejection of new Bay du Nord oil drilling project, off the beautiful coast of Newfoundland.
Posted yesterday at 11:00 a.m.
Credibility test for the Trudeau government
This decision will be a test of credibility as to the true determination of the government of Justin Trudeau (and now the alliance with the NDP) to act in a concrete, significant, courageous and rapid way in the face of the threat of climate change once again proclaimed by the scientific community that signed the recent and very alarming report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Will the current government perpetuate – “ business as usual – an economic model based on its dependence on oil and driven by the fluctuations and afflictions specific to this market, or will it display a real climate ambition by choosing to initiate on this decisive occasion, its clear exit from fossil fuels ?
Justin Trudeau has promised to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. However, according to IPCC experts, this clearly means that NO new oil or gas projects can be developed. The dire prospect of global warming of the planet beyond 1.5 degrees is not an option.
The climate crisis is already affecting Canada in various ways: extreme heat, smog, droughts, forest fires, endangered species and ecosystem imbalances, record flooding, coastal erosion, melting permafrost.
It is in the face of such an observation that the Bay du Nord project has come about, which projects the production of one billion barrels of oil over a 30-year horizon. In terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it’s like adding 7 to 10 million gasoline-powered cars to our roads! Perfect nonsense in the midst of a climate crisis.
And that’s not to mention that in the event of an underwater spill, it would take 18 to 36 days to bring in the equipment used to plug the leak. An ecological and economic disaster for the Newfoundland and Labrador fishing and tourism industry. A region which already, in 2018, had experienced an oil disaster of this nature.
Finally, to those who qualify this drilling project as salutary, in these times of oil supply crisis linked to the tragic war in Ukraine, let us recall that said Bay du Nord oil would only be available from 2028, according to the predictions.
The future of our children is in the hands of governments
We, Mothers at the front, and no doubt a whole community considering that each child is to be protected as his own, we who also consider that our ecosystem does not live in a separate mode from that which would be affected under the seas of the Atlantic, let us ask that you hear the warning sounded once again by the scientists.
We are not unaware that the region of Newfoundland and Labrador absolutely needs to be supported to propel its recovery towards an economy distinct from that based on the oil industry. Thus, in all solidarity, we argue that it is high time for this region as for those most affected by the transition to apply the Future Fund for Diversification promised in the election campaign. Starting with the next budget, the government must invest in sustainable, clean and responsible projects for the benefit of the communities, and no longer count on an economy without horizon, based on the energies of the past, polluting and non-renewable.
Mr. Prime Minister, Mrs. Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland, and Mr. Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, for your children, for all the children of the world, for the living of which we are, we implore you to reject the Bay du Nord project and submit a just ecological transition project.
Let us not bequeath a future marked by natural disasters, food shortages, wars and mourning.
Be brave. As children are taught, keep your promises.
* Co-signatories, Mothers at the front Montreal: Suzanne R. Fernandez, mother at the front for my children, grandchildren and all the children, Claire Moran, mother at the front for my children and all the children; Catherine Major, mother at the front for Frédérique, Margot, Oscar and Carmen; Kareen Guillaume, mother at the front for Oscar; Stéphanie Burelle, mother at the front for Henri; Pauline Cordier, mother at the front for Adel; Ingrid Fontes, mother at the front for Samuel; Karolina Studzinska, mother at the front for Noémie and Alexis; France Duquette, mother at the front for Arthur, Eli and Marine; Nathalie Ainsley, mother at the front for Laurie and Annie; Andréanne Grimard, mother at the front for Madeleine, Jeanne and Itza; Stéphanie Couture, mother at the front for Édouard and Camille; Natalie Caine, mother at the front for Yuri; Jennifer Smith, mother at the front for Ash and Aria; Alexandra Haedrich, mother at the front for Emilie; Catherine De Léan, mother at the front for Romane and Mai; Lise Gagnon, mother at the front for the living; Coralline Debroise, mother at the front for Adénor, Aymeri and Corentin; Maria Pastor Mollà, mother at the front for Thomas and Aitana; Clémence Roy-Darisse, mother at the front for all the children of the world; Caroline Létourneau, mother at the front for all the children on the planet; Daphnée Azoulay, mother at the front for the young generation and all those of the future; Louise Lacroix, for my unborn granddaughter and future generations; Julie Kalt, mother at the front for Léa and Thomas; Laure Colin, mother at the front for Céleste, Arthur, Victor, Félix and the little Basile who has just been born; Kathelijne Keeren, mother at the front for all the children on the planet; Geneviève Ferdais for Adam, Oscar, Marion and all the living; Sarah Brown for Noa, Zeki and future generations; Kathy DeKoven for Penelope, Jasper and all living things; Mylène Roy, for all our children and for the living; Clélia Sève, mother at the front for Luce, Millie and all living beings