Don’t wait to be flooded

The sad floods in Charlevoix cost the lives of two firefighters, cut Baie-Saint-Paul in two and claimed several hundred victims.

“Climate change is hitting us, and we must react and invest the substantial sums to secure Quebec,” said Quebec’s Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel.¹.

This statement confirms that there is no debate (among serious people) in Quebec on the fact that climate change is causing more and more natural disasters. Extreme phenomena will unfortunately become more numerous and more virulent.

This is why, in addition to providing our share of efforts to slow down climate change and limit the rise in temperature to 1.5 ^ohC, we must prepare our infrastructures for the damage that climate change could cause.

The problem is that in fact, despite its declarations, the Legault government is not ambitious enough in the fight against climate change. It is sad.

Last summer, the cities of Quebec asked the engineers of the firm WSP and the scientists of Ouranos to calculate how much it will be necessary to invest to protect municipal infrastructures, often the first to suffer the repercussions of climate change.

We are talking about securing our infrastructures to prevent sewer backups or flooding in the metro because the water has accumulated too quickly. To protect our roads, our drinking water treatment plants, our buildings. To ensure that our public transport rails can withstand warmer temperatures in the summer.

Conclusion of WSP and Ouranos: it is necessary to invest 2 billion dollars per year from now on. Only to protect our municipal infrastructure from the effects of climate change.

The Legault government rejected this request from the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ) last fall during the election campaign, then again this week.

François Legault gives two explanations, very unconvincing: there is already money available in certain programs, and the Quebec taxpayer does not have the means to pay.

Indeed, Quebec has reserved 1.4 billion over five years – therefore 280 million per year – to adapt infrastructure (municipal and provincial) to climate change. Half of this money will be invested in municipal infrastructure, and we promise to add more money soon (we don’t know how much).

Two hundred and eighty million per year, these are peanuts compared to what must be invested to secure our infrastructures (2 billion only at the municipal level). Cities have little fiscal room to maneuver – short of raising property taxes, a very non-progressive type of tax. It is therefore up to Quebec and Ottawa to cover the greater part of these 2 billion.

We have the choice.

Either we invest almost nothing (15% of needs), we cross our fingers, and the bill risks being colossal with each disaster.

Either we invest for real right away, and our infrastructures can better respond to the challenges of climate change. It will limit the damage and impact for Quebecers. And it will cost a lot less: every dollar invested in adapting our infrastructure saves five dollars in direct costs to repair or replace damaged infrastructure, according to the Climate Institute of Canada².

It’s quite a cost/benefit ratio!

Unfortunately, the CAQ chose the first option instead, among other things because taxpayers’ ability to pay is not “unlimited” according to Mr. Legault.

However, Quebec has just offered taxpayers a recurring tax cut of 1.65 billion per year in 2023-2024. There was money to adapt our infrastructures to climate change, but the CAQ chose tax cuts, its flagship election promise.

Let no one then come and say to us: sorry, there is no money.

2. Climate Institute of Canada, “Damage Control: Reducing the Costs of Climate Impacts for Canada”, September 2022, 86 pages