During the summer, The duty will crisscross the waters of the St. Lawrence River, this giant “almost ocean, almost Atlantic” that Charlebois sings. To launch a loving and critical reflection: a text by politician Alexandre Boulerice, a great defender of this nourishing, symbolic and identity artery.
If we look at Quebec from the sky, we immediately notice the immense blue expanse that crosses the territory from west to east, which originates in the Great Lakes to flow into the Atlantic Ocean. A being that shapes Quebec within and at its center: the St. Lawrence River.
The river and its tributaries, in all regions, represent a vast complex of arteries and veins that sustain this magnificent body that is Québec. A giant. But a fragile and threatened giant that we must protect. A giant threatened by projects that affect its living environments, its ecosystems, its balance and its purity.
Who defends our river? Laws exist, of course, but they are too often circumvented, poorly applied or simply ignored. Imagine for a moment if our giant had the means to defend itself. We can give him the means.
Since the American and French revolutions, the march towards equality and democracy has been a major step forward in the evolution of our human societies. This has allowed us, at least within the meaning of the law, to grant basic rights to all human beings within our communities.
But what about nature? Have we given it the respect and recognition it deserves? Not really. In our Western arrogance, we still maintain an anthropocentric and utilitarian vision of nature: it is there to meet our needs, a means to our ends. We can no longer maintain this posture.
In a world that has to deal with climate change, the systematic loss of space for animals, the massive extinction of living species, we must urgently make a radical shift towards a harmonious and peaceful existence with our environment. .
We need to bring the balance back to all of this. This is why, in collaboration with the International Observatory for the Rights of Nature (OIDN), my team and I have drafted a bill to grant legal personality to the river and its watersheds. Entitled “Solution Saint-Laurent”, our proposal finally gives our national jewel the necessary tools to defend and protect itself.
The fundamental intention of our approach was to include the bill in a perspective of reconciliation with the First Nations: there can be no preservation of these waterways without the involvement and presence, at the table, of those who have known this territory for millennia in all its subtleties.
This is why the bill that I tabled in the House of Commons last May provides for an important place for aboriginal communities in a future committee for the defense and protection of the rights of the St. Lawrence River. They are essential guardians of the lands and waters they know.
At first glance, such legislation may seem complex and impractical. Some have even replied to me that it makes no sense to consider a watercourse as a human being in the sense of the law. But why not ? For decades now, corporations have been treated as natural persons, enjoying a wide range of rights and privileges afforded to human beings, and yet there is nothing “human” about their nature…
Moreover, for several years there has been a movement which has been campaigning on all the continents of our vast Earth for the legal recognition of the rights of nature — and the successes are beginning to multiply. In 2008, Ecuador was the first country in the world to legally recognize nature within its constitution. In 2017, with the support of the Maori community, New Zealand granted legal personality to the Whanganui River.
And what about the Mutehekau Hipu River, also known as the Magpie River, here in Quebec? It is precisely the hard work of the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit, the MRC of Minganie, and the OIDN that inspired my team and me, and gave the idea of becoming the spokespersons of a radical overhaul of Canadian environmental law.
The thirst for this initiative is already being felt on the ground. In April, I was invited to the United Nations in New York for Earth Day to present this new idea. This summer, I will be crisscrossing the Bas-du-Fleuve to meet with several elected officials and stakeholders. And this fall, public meetings will be scheduled in several Quebec cities.
This new, more global perspective will open the door to other, more sustainable and respectful forms of development. A viable development that breaks the suicidal thought of infinite and unlimited growth in a world of inevitably finite and limited resources.
For centuries, the river has, by its majesty, marked the collective imagination of Quebecers. Let us collectively watch over this wealth and together protect its life and beauty.