What do the reduction in public transport provision, investments in the Northvolt factory project, the pollution emitted by the Horne foundry and the new bill which opens up the sale of electricity between private companies have in common?
These are all elements that have direct impacts on our lives, inequalities and our planet. These are the results of political choices that are made for us, without consulting us. In this week of occupation and popular education, the Popular Education and Community Action Movement of Quebec (MEPACQ) denounces the government’s inaction in the face of the climate crisis and invites the population to mobilize to demand commitments in favor of people and the environment rather than in favor of the profits of private companies.
Our governments are rolling out the red carpet to private companies to the detriment of the living conditions of Quebecers. The Horne Foundry is a telling example: the Glencore company continues to release poison into the air of the city of Rouyn-Noranda with the complicity of the government. In fact, the latter gave the company until March 2028 to reduce its arsenic emissions to 15 nanograms per cubic meter of air… or five times the provincial standard!
The Northvolt issue also illustrates the twists and turns that the government is prepared to make to its own rules to please the industry. The Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charrette, admitted last March to having deliberately helped Northvolt to avoid examination by the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment, despite the advice of his officials. Nothing to reassure the 62% of the population who say they are “concerned” or “very concerned” about the consequences of the development of the battery sector on trees, wetlands, agricultural land and waterways.
At the same time, 60 years after the nationalization of electricity in Quebec, the Legault government plans to legalize the sale of electricity from one private company to another, thus undermining the state monopoly. However, it is beneficial to the population: in 2023, it brought $3.4 billion in dividends to the Quebec government, an amount that could contribute to improving social services, the health or education system. What is the benefit for us in sharing it with private enterprise?
Choices that have consequences
While billions of public money are being invested in the battery sector, the government is offering gifts to Glencore and privatizing parts of our hydroelectricity network, for lack of financing, our public services are being undermined.
Public transportation is an excellent example of the government’s lack of interest in the social safety net. While it is an essential service for many low-income people and a proven way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, recent research from the Institute for Socioeconomic Research and Information ( IRIS) reveals that there are seven times fewer intercity bus departures today than in 1980 due to disinvestment in this sector.
In regions poorly served by public transport, it is becoming more and more inevitable to turn to the purchase of an individual car, which, in addition to contributing to the increase in the automobile fleet, reduces sources of income. for transportation services. The wheel is turning: services are decreasing, pollution is increasing.
This clearly demonstrates how the choices of our government, which favors business opportunities rather than the common good, are not without consequences. In certain cases, like that of Rouyn-Noranda, it is people’s health that is directly affected. In others, the deleterious effects are more subtle or indirect, but present. This has the effect of letting things deteriorate and giving the impression that there is no solution or anything other than this model.
Known solutions
However, there are solutions to fight the climate crisis and inequalities, we know them. We can think of a strong social safety net which prevents the most vulnerable people from being left behind. We can also think of political choices consistent with the interests of the population, such as financing public transport or applying the environmental standards that we have adopted collectively.
For MEPACQ, two solutions are clear. First, we must get out of fossil fuels by 2030, ensuring a just and inclusive transition for communities and workers. Furthermore, rather than giving it privileges, we must massively tax wealth in order to reinvest in the social safety net and ensure decent living conditions for all.
Faced with government inaction, we must raise our voice so that the fight against inequalities and the climate crisis is a priority well ahead of the profits of private companies. We have our collective strength, our hope and our anger to organize and make change inevitable.
*Co-signed this letter: Marc Benoît, Group of autonomous popular education organizations of Mauricie (ROEPAM); Naélie Bouchard-Sylvain, Popular education group in community action in the Quebec and Chaudière-Appalaches regions; Julie Corbeil, Regional Table of Voluntary Popular Education Organizations (TROVEP) of Montreal; André Fortin, Popular Education and Community Action Movement of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean; Gabriel Grégoire-Mailhot, Regional table of voluntary popular education organizations (TROVEP) of Estrie; Josée Harnois, Regional table of voluntary popular education organizations (TROVEP) of Montérégie; Nancy Hubert, Association of Independent Popular Education Groups of Center-du-Québec (AGEPA CDQ); Christian Milot, Popular Education Group of Abitibi-Témiscamingue; Catherine Pouliot, Autonomous Popular Education Movement of Lanaudière; Geneviève Tremblay-Racette, Round table of voluntary organizations in popular education in Outaouais (TROVEPO); Michel Savard, Table of popular groups on the North Shore; Stéphane Handfield, Research and Training Group on Poverty in Quebec (GRFPQ); Janie Bergeron, Regroupement des organisms Espace du Québec; Emmélia Blais-Dowdy, Carrefour de participation, resourcing et formation (CPRF).