Environment Minister Benoit Charette tried to defend his record, while representatives of Québec solidaire (QS), the Parti Québécois (PQ) and the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) outlined their respective plans. during a debate on the environment and the climate crisis on Saturday in Montreal.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
In a formula without direct exchanges, the four participants had to answer briefly in turn seven questions on topics ranging from environmental justice to waste management.
The Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) did not respond to the invitation, organizers said.
QS and PQ crossfire
Ruba Ghazal, MP and QS candidate in Mercier, and Cédric Gagnon-Ducharme, PQ candidate in Verchères, chained specific proposals and attacks on Mr. Charette and his government. The PLQ candidate in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Désirée McGraw, most often responded in general terms, sticking to her text and sometimes deviating from the themes submitted.
Mr. Charette, whose Plan for a green economy has just been described as a “missed opportunity” by the David Suzuki Foundation, highlighted the achievements of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), such as the reform of registration and the creation of protected areas.
He also praised the sums promised by his government, in particular 325 million to tackle heat islands. Minister Benoit Charette also recalled the $56 billion currently planned “to develop the public transit offer”, a figure that has not been reached in the 2022-2032 Quebec Infrastructure Plan (PQI) because certain projects “are in development,” he explained.
Mme Ghazal criticized him for his “inconsistency”, while the government rushes headlong with its third link project between Quebec and Lévis and its various highway extensions, while its own committee of experts on climate change recommends that it put a stop to it.
Bulk promises
The MP for QS also put forward her party’s ideas aimed, for example, at gradually ending the use of fossil fuels to heat buildings and devoting 1% of PQI investments to the greening of cities. She also recalled that QS wanted to invest massively in public transit and lower the cost for users, protect 30% of the province by 2030, have Quebecers recognize a “right to repair” and confer legal personality on the river. Saint Laurent.
His proposals and those of Mr. Gagnon-Ducharme, of the PQ, were often in phase. The latter notably recalled his party’s commitments to double investments in public transport and to create a “Climate Pass” for all these services. He also put forward the protection of natural spaces, the electrification of transport, and underlined that the PQ was the only party which proposes to revise the Act respecting threatened or vulnerable species.
Mme McGraw, of the PLQ, praised his party’s “ECO project” and the 100 billion investments promised to achieve carbon neutrality. She also said she wanted to bet on better funding for public transport, which the PLQ wants to make free for students and seniors. The candidate in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce finally pleaded for an increase in water royalties and for investments in the fight against invasive species.