Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois wants to see Quebec solidaire (QS) exceed its status as a party of “good ideas” to adopt a “concrete” electoral platform in 2022. On Saturday, the party still positioned itself to strengthen its climate targets.
In congress, Quebec solidaire activists voted to significantly increase their greenhouse gas reduction targets. Originally, in its proposal book, the party had entered a reduction target of 45% in 2030 compared to 1990 levels. The members of the party decided to increase this figure to at least 55%.
Saturday, the members were still torn on the number to adopt. Some of them called on their colleagues to go further, raising the target to 65%. “We cannot put a plaster on gangrene, ”thundered Hélène Bissonnette, member of the QS International Marxist Trend Collective.
An activist proposed to remove all cars from the roads of Quebec in 2030, whether electric or gasoline. Another called on activists to vote in favor of nationalizing large polluting industries. Ultimately, these proposals, such as the 65% target was rejected by members on Saturday.
“If we have big, ambitious proposals and the world doesn’t follow us, there are limits to what a political party can do in terms of education. The higher the target, the more demanding it is, ”said another activist, Olivier Huard.
Realism
Québec solidaire will therefore include its new target in the platform that it will present during the election campaign next year. In the morning Saturday, the co-spokesperson for Quebec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, had agreed on the importance for his party to make proposals “closer to the daily concerns of the people”.
“The demonstration we want to make is that in Québec solidaire, we do not just have great ideas and great values, but that we are able to put them into practice in concrete proposals”, a- he stressed.
The other QS co-spokesperson, Manon Massé, believes that the party is the only one able to act in the environment. It is to them that Quebecers will have to turn in 2022 to get out of the climate emergency, she said. “To my knowledge, the other parties are still at the 37.5% target when science tells us that it takes us at least 55%,” she said.
It is the season for political congresses. After the Quebec Future Coalition last week, QS and the Conservative Party are gathering this weekend. The Liberal Party will follow next weekend, then the Parti Québécois in early December.