More than 50,000 students walked out across Quebec to express their “climate rage” this week. However, on Friday afternoon, in Montreal, only a few hundred people showed up at the main demonstration of the strike movement, far from the scale of the large gatherings of 2019.
“We are hotter than the climate! », “With us, in the street!” », chanted in chorus the demonstrators gathered at the Monument to Sir George-Étienne Cartierat Mount Royal Park.
Representatives of various student associations, both college and university, met there in response to the call from Climate Rage, a coalition which presents itself as environmentalist and anti-capitalist. “This is the first time that a truly anti-capitalist group has organized one of the biggest demonstrations of the year against climate inaction,” says Sam Julien, spokesperson for Climate Rage. The word “anti-capitalist” can be scary, but we want the good of communities, and it is a discourse that is increasingly accepted. »
The student coalition was formed last year following protests against the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, COP15. “We felt rage, a need to act,” adds Sam Julien. There are forest fires, like those of this summer, which show us the importance of mobilizing, but also false capitalist solutions which do not help the problem, like the battery parts factory which has just be announced, against which we want to position ourselves. »
The march, which took place peacefully, began at Mount Royal Park and continued in various places in the city center which “are [des] symbols [d’]colonial and capitalist exploitation,” we could read in a leaflet distributed by the organizers. The demonstrators notably went in front of the offices of Hydro-Québec and the Royal Bank of Canada, which was the largest financier in the world for fossil fuel projects in 2022. No overflow was observed.
Students on strike
“We must stop treating the climate crisis as something secondary,” says Gabriel Bélisle, a bachelor’s student in environmental design at the University of Quebec in Montreal, whose student association is on strike this week.
Having come to demonstrate alongside his colleagues, he protests against the inaction of governments. “If we continue to do nothing, it is not only our few days of strike that will disrupt our school career, but all the consequences of climate change, which threaten to radically change the world as we know it today.” today. »
Sandrine Giérula, an environmental activist, is concerned about the “climate tipping points” that humanity is crossing. “Phenomena become irreversible, such as the deoxygenation of the oceans and the acidification of corals. Talking about climate rage and eco-anger is the least we can do! »
“Strike days on the theme of climate rage are important and necessary,” adds Éloïse Cauchy-Vaillancourt, activist within the Écothèque, a student organization at the University of Montreal. “We need to move away from eco-anxiety, which is a completely valid response, but which does not allow us to tackle the systems full of injustices that are causing the current crisis. »
Viviane Isabelle, also a member of the Ecothèque, affirms that only rage “allows us to come together and act collectively”. “Rage is also the driving force behind our actions which aim to denounce false environmental solutions, such as electric cars. It is a constant struggle, which we cannot give up. »
Differences of opinion
However, some people seem to have given up on the fight, considering that nearly half a million demonstrators took to the streets of Montreal in September 2019.
“Climate Rage makes a radical statement, which is necessary to put pressure on governments, but which also seems very sectarian to many, and I believe that this is partly why the enthusiasm is not as strong as before”, denounces an activist who was actively involved in the 2019 demonstrations and who preferred to testify under cover of anonymity to avoid inflaming the debate and harming the cause.
“The environmental movement needs to reconnect with a logic of convergence of the political forces of Quebec society. It is [seulement] in this way we will succeed in profoundly transforming Quebec,” he adds.
Sandrine Giérula maintains that “the rallies of 2019 were historic”, but that “that does not mean that the mobilization does not continue if there are fewer people”. “The call for radicalism, to hold an anti-capitalist discourse, can reach more people than we think. Many people are frustrated right now about not being able to pay their rent, for example. Their difficulties also fit into this. »
“There can be cohesion of more or less radical groups, provided that we move forward together towards the same goal. »