Political parties that aspire to lead Quebec after the next election must imperatively show “courage” in the fight against the climate crisis, thousands of demonstrators who marched in Montreal pleaded on Friday. They booed the representatives of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) who tried to take part in the demonstration, while reserving a very enthusiastic welcome to those of Québec solidaire (QS).
“All parties need to do more. We expect them all to have the courage to tackle the heart of the problem. We must accept the fact that if we want to move towards a carbon neutral world, as required by climate science to limit warming to a viable threshold, we will have to live in a world that will have completely weaned itself off oil and gas in Quebec. “, argued François Geoffroy, one of the spokespersons of the organization of this mobilization.
Some 146,000 students and 15,000 workers went on a one-day strike during this mobilization. They demand the end of the use of oil and natural gas in Quebec by 2030 and more investment in social programs, in support of citizens “vulnerable” to the impacts of the climate crisis. “This is an extremely ambitious request, acknowledged Mr. Geoffroy. But the alternative is too scary to imagine. Yes, the changes will be difficult, but the alternative will be dreadful. »
Caquists booed
In the middle of the election campaign, Liberal, PQ and solidarity candidates took part in the demonstration, which brought together 15,000 people according to the organizers. The outgoing Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, for his part tried to join in, accompanied in particular by his colleagues Pierre Fitzgibbon and Chantal Rouleau.
Booed, he finally left the scene surrounded by several bodyguards and police officers from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal. Before his departure, Mr. Charette did not want to say if he supported the demands of the coalition, mentioning rather that the positions of the caquistes “join” those defended by the demonstrators. On Twitter, he later claimed to have been the victim of “violence” and “intimidation” at the protest.
Warmly welcomed, the co-spokesperson of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, was not surprised by the reception given by the climate demonstrators to the candidates of the CAQ. The aspiring Prime Minister did not want to say whether he was deserved or not. “It’s not up to me to say who is welcome or not in the demonstration because I didn’t organize it,” he said. “But, me, I understand the young people for not having felt listened to by François Legault. I understand young people who realize that this politician is not interested in the future, is not interested in climate change,” he added.
Even if the leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, has often said that his climate plan and that of Mr. Nadeau-Dubois were similar, it was the QS plan that seemed to charm the crowd on Friday. While the demonstrators gathered around the banners of the solidarity contingent, the PQ troop, less strong in number, attracted very few onlookers.
Asked if she supports the marchers’ demand to tax the big wealth, Liberal leader Dominique Anglade pointed out that she promises to raise taxes for the “very rich” who earn more than $300,000 a year. . “We want to get money from tax havens” and have the banks “contribute more”, she added.
With a quick step, M.me Anglade joined the demonstrators who marched down Park Avenue. Several young environmental activists were quick to ask the Liberal leader to take a photo with them. Some groups, however, booed the Liberal leader when they saw her. “No to political recovery”, launched a woman.
“Injustice”
For the students, who represented the vast majority of the demonstrators present at the start of the demonstration, at the foot of Mount Royal, governments are still not listening to their message, despite several demonstrations with a climate flavor in recent years.
“We are studying to live in a world that will be profoundly transformed by the climate crisis. It’s an intergenerational injustice and it’s a way of talking to young people. But what do the parties actually do? That’s what we want to see,” argued Amélie Beaulé, a student at Cégep Saint-Laurent.
“We don’t have time to wait. It has to be a priority for the next government,” said Véronique Laflamme, spokesperson for the Front d’action populaire en réménagement urbain. “Wealth needs to be taxed to reinvest in social and public programs. It is necessary to tackle social inequalities, which are likely to increase with the climate crisis,” she added.
With Florence Morin-Martel,
Francois Carabin and Marco Belair-Cirino