The environment, the main issue of the elections? This is what science is asking for and what more and more citizens are hoping for, particularly in a context where the effects of climate change are increasing in Quebec. The environment division of To have to therefore goes to meet the population to measure how much their vote will be influenced by ecological issues. Today: adaptation to climate change.
When the torrential rains fell on Montreal and the metropolitan region on Tuesday, September 13, Alice Dufour Thériault did not have much time to react. “It happened within 20 minutes. I was making supper and I heard a strange noise coming from the basement, ”says this owner of a shoebox type house on Wurtele Street, in Ville-Marie. “The water started to rise very quickly. She was coming in through the windows and doors at breakneck speed. It was really scary. »
In the minutes that follow, Alice Dufour Thériault dials 911 and ends up talking to a worker who promises to send an emergency team to the scene. But this will never come. “At the time, I felt abandoned by the 911. Afterwards, I felt abandoned by the City, which pushed politically on this with the mayors who asked the government for a green pact”, says- she. “And the next day, we had the value of our house increased by $200,000. [avec le nouveau rôle foncier]. »
The 311 taken by storm
The deluge caused more than 50 mm of water to fall on Montreal in two hours, the equivalent of the amount of rain that the metropolis usually receives in a month. Several arteries in the city were flooded and water seeped into the Square-Victoria-OACI metro station. Between 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., 1,400 calls were received at 311 in connection with the torrential rains and flooded basements. In Longueuil, 311 was stormed with 2,622 requests for help. Other cities, including Joliette and Repentigny, have also suffered the wrath of Mother Nature. The Red Cross had to come to the aid of 34 households in the wake of these floods.
Last Tuesday, a few hours after the mayors of ten major cities had asked the provincial parties involved in the election campaign to support the cities in adapting their infrastructures to climate change, the chief caquiste, François Legault, of passage to the Montreal City Hall, served them an end of inadmissibility. He preferred to rely on the Plan for a Green Economy, a program focused on the fight against greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. He also mentioned the OASIS program aimed at greening and the fight against urban heat islands.
After he left City Hall, nature went wild. The theme of adaptation to climate change had just made a sensational entry into the election campaign.
More frequent extreme events
Tenant in a dwelling on rue Montgomery, in Centre-Sud, Mathieu Prévost saw his basement flooded last Tuesday. His two roommates, whose rooms were in the basement, had to move elsewhere temporarily. Until then, climate change did not appear to him as a major theme of the current election campaign. “If you had asked me on Monday [12 septembre] if this issue was important in the context of the election campaign, I would have said no. But now, definitely yes. It’s something you don’t realize until you get involved yourself. »
According to him, the parties must act now because the impacts of climate change could be significant in 10-15 years. Extreme events, such as heat waves and torrential rains, are likely to occur more frequently. “I think it’s important to get to the heart of the problem. »
Responsible for public security on the executive committee of the City of Montreal, Alain Vaillancourt indicates that the City has a budget of 314 million over ten years to make its infrastructures more resilient with, among other things, improvements to the water network, the construction of draining sidewalk overhangs and other facilities capable of absorbing rainwater. “But it will take more money. That’s why the mayor demanded 2 billion a year in the green pact. This green pact is a necessity. These events will be more frequent. You have to be ready,” he said.
Alice Dufour Thériault believes that municipal authorities and governments must do more to make the city more resilient. “We are in a highly mineralized area. It’s a notorious heat island. We have greened the land in front of our house. I do what I can for the rainwater runoff and in the green lane, but we have a lot of problems related to that. There is no will. »
Moreover, the lane that borders his house may have been designated “green lane”, it is completely asphalted, with the exception of a narrow border planted with flowers. And during the deluge last Tuesday, a foot of water had accumulated there, reports Ms. Dufour Thériault.
Emmanuel Rondia, Director General of the Regional Environment Council (CRE) of Montreal also believes that the Government of Quebec must do its part in terms of adaptation to climate change, greening and the fight against heat islands.
In particular, he suggests that a share of 1% of the budgets of infrastructure projects in Quebec City be devoted to adaptation and rainwater management projects. “It would ensure that there is funding for green infrastructure projects,” he says.
In the Montreal region, Quebec could finance the green and blue network program of the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM) in order to allow cities to acquire green spaces, he adds. The government should also be exemplary in terms of stormwater management and greening in all its infrastructure projects, whether for schools, hospitals or road repairs, for example.