Representatives of the Vire au vert coalition welcomed the party leaders on a green carpet before the “VAT face to face” on Thursday evening. The 26 coalition organizations ask them to “formally commit to prioritizing the climate crisis and presenting the main lines of their climate plan”.
Posted at 7:42 p.m.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois of Québec solidaire (QS) and Dominique Anglade of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) responded to the coalition’s call. They stopped briefly on the few feet of fake lawn in front of the TVA premises to present their respective climate plans.
Messrs. St-Pierre Plamondon and Nadeau-Dubois have also undertaken to “pass all [leurs] decisions under the magnifying glass of the climate crisis”. Mme Anglade left before this stage of the demonstration, interrupted by an activist with a loud megaphone.
All the leaders were invited to take part in the exercise, but the outgoing Prime Minister, François Legault of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) as well as the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ), Éric Duhaime, declined the ‘invitation.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, THE PRESS
Liberal Party leader Dominique Anglade showed up on the green carpet.
Representatives of organizations, including Équiterre, Greenpeace, the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN), and the Quebec Association of Environmental Physicians (AQME), awaited the leaders dressed in rain boots, a nod to the important precipitation that hit Montreal on Tuesday and a reminder of other climate disasters to come.
“The consequences of the climate crisis are such that it is necessary for voters to have the right information on the solutions proposed by the political parties”, indicated the Vire au vert coalition in a press release.
Spokesperson Patricia Clermont, however, is careful not to direct voters towards one party or another and stresses that the coalition is not partisan. She invites voters to compare platforms and cast their votes to make the environment matter.