Gusts of wind, ice, heavy rain, forest fires. Prime Minister François Legault has worn his black vest stamped with the civil security logo more than once over the past year: a blue triangle placed in an orange circle.
“The triangle represents stability, balance and harmony; orange, visible from afar, means alert; blue is the color of peace,” reads a page on the Ministry of Public Security website.
“There have been a lot of crises to manage, a little more than I had anticipated,” agreed François Legault during the review of the 2022-2023 parliamentary year, on Parliament Hill, Friday.
The extreme climatic phenomena that sent him sometimes to the crisis cells of Hydro-Quebec, in Montreal, and of the Ministry of Public Security, in Quebec, sometimes in the water in Baie-Saint-Paul and in the dry Sept-Îles exacerbated the “anxiety” agitating him. And he doesn’t read 30 minutes every night for nothing. “As for anxiety or eco-anxiety, I think we’ve known each other for a while, I’m a little bit anxious, I admit,” he said. Let it go.
Repeated disasters, starting with forest fires — the intensity and scale of which “surprised” him — have also enabled him to take stock of the challenge of adapting to climate change. “I always find that things are not going fast enough. So we are taking action, and we will have to continue to take action. It is certain that climate change has real impacts on everyday life,” repeated François Legault.
The government will grant the injection over the next five years of some $1.5 billion in measures relating to resilience in the face of climate change. “We will have to do more,” recognized François Legault, while turning to the municipalities. “There is a wrong that has been done [déjà par les changements climatiques]. The temperature has risen. There are impacts. »
If it is sincere, the CAQ government will provide an emergency climate fund in addition to holding a parliamentary committee on forest management in the era of climate change, argued the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. . “It’s the first two [solutions] that come to mind, but there are others. »
I always think it’s not going fast enough. So we are taking action, and we will have to continue to take action. It is certain that climate change has real impacts on everyday life.
Even though he has condemned (wrongly) the hamlet of Clova, northwest of La Tuque, the head of government now accustomed to crises has drawn the compliments of the leaders of the opposition parties in the National Assembly. “You have our unwavering support in everything you do to help our people on the ground,” said the leader of the official opposition, Marc Tanguay, in the chamber.
“When populations are in distress, when populations are in crisis, François Legault has this good habit of moving around and seeing the world,” said “GND” to the press.
In his eyes, “the elected representatives of the Quebec people have two responsibilities: to be there when things go wrong, when things break, when things break out, but [aussi] work so that it does not happen again, or, in any case, that, when it happens again, it is less bad for the world”.
Each of the extreme weather episodes is a reminder of the importance of accelerating not only the adaptation of infrastructures to climate change, but also the decarbonization of the Quebec economy.
Gold, barely 60% of the measurements necessary to achieve greenhouse gas reduction targets were identified by the government in the third part of the Plan for a Green Economy (PEV), unveiled in May.
Solidarity took advantage of the last few days to make fun of the press conference during which François Legault presented the third innovation zone, the Energy Transition Valley, held in Bécancour on May 29. The left-wing party only speaks of the “all-electric SUV Hummer EV super truck” which was enthroned on the stage, to the great regret of François Legault.
Certainly, the bill on increasing the capacity andenergy efficiency in Quebec(not only by starting the dishwasher programmed at midnight) on which Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon is working will make some noise.
The powerful gusts, the ice, the heavy rains and now the forest fires have in turn diverted the attention of the CAQ government at times, which was granted a parliamentary supermajority on October 3.
But despite the repeated crises, the Coalition avenir Québec will fulfill about 99% of its electoral promises, assured François Legault, before specifying that he had taken the liberty of “adjusting” some of them since the last ballot. Among them, the construction of a third road link between Quebec and Lévis and the maintenance of the number of permanent immigrants at 50,000 per year. “I always question myself. […] When it is necessary to change your mind, you change your mind. We are not dogmatic. »