Mr. Prime Minister, you were elected barely three years ago and since taking office the world has changed irreparably.
The relative stability, harmony and prosperity that Quebec enjoyed seem to belong to a past that is both recent and bygone. Also, your name will remain associated for Quebeckers with a period of planetary crisis. Because the pandemic we have been facing since March 2020 is unprecedented, because it has mobilized all the resources of the State, the sciences, economic actors, civil society and citizens. It has changed the face of the world, our ways of working and communicating, as well as our relationship to others, to science and to democratic institutions.
Whether you like it or not, we will still be, after the pandemic, in a time of crisis. And this crisis promises to be permanent. After the floods of 2017 and 2019, the heatwave of 2018, which claimed dozens of lives, and the drought of 2021, which culminated in the hottest August on record, climate change will continue to transform Quebec, like the rest of the planet, with their destruction, their victims, their forced displacements and their exorbitant economic costs.
To face it, and to prevent the worst, we need a radical paradigm shift and everyone’s mobilization.
Why are you calling on the climate? Because the climate crisis is a systemic issue, as are social inequalities or racism. They cannot be solved solely by the accumulation of individual actions. The state has considerable leverage. The State also has the responsibility to use them, in the name of the general interest, to turn the tide and preserve what remains of our ecosystems. Acting on the climate also means protecting our ability to respond to the other challenges we face, be it education, culture, inclusion, reconciliation, health or the economy.
As head of government democratically elected to lead the human community that we are forming in Quebec, you are in the best position to change course.
In the texts published in The State of Quebec 2022, we can see the strength of the communities that weave Quebec. It’s not just that. Poll after poll, we have demonstrated that Quebeckers are worried about the climate and expect more from the government. As Prime Minister, you alone have the legitimacy to lead the parade. To prevent, rather than cure.
Our precious democracy is also threatened by the climate crisis, which will have no qualms about imposing its conditions when the time comes. Democracy, however, offers the best framework for responding to the greatest crises. It forces us to listen to each other, to understand each other and to produce the best, for the greatest number. Democracy helps to make difficult trade-offs and resolve dilemmas. We still have to give ourselves the means.
We are counting on you to send the signal. I am convinced that Quebeckers will respond positively to the call.
Together, let’s prepare for the future.