The coalition of environmental organizations Go Green is calling for a leaders’ debate to be held exclusively on the climate crisis, as part of the upcoming provincial election.
56% of Quebecers believe that such a debate would be “fairly” or “very” relevant, reveals a Léger poll commissioned by Équiterre.
“Political parties must raise these questions, must respond and present a concrete plan to ensure that we are able to judge this plan and choose the party that offers us the best chance of getting out of this crisis- there and face the difficulties that will last for decades to come,” noted Équiterre executive director Colleen Thorpe in a telephone interview.
“We are asking the media to organize this debate, pleaded Ms. Thorpe, in order to ensure that the formula makes it possible to discuss environmental issues, which has not been the case in the past. »
She cited the 2018 provincial campaign, where “we had a 16-minute segment in a two-hour debate” during the debate organized by the media consortium, while “at TVA, there was no segment that focused specifically on the environment.
“We are in a climate emergency just as we were in an emergency for the pandemic. The pandemic has been given a lot of importance in recent years and in public discourse,” she noted.
This is why, according to her, the climate should not be relegated to the back seats, when it has an impact on many issues such as “the quality of life, the safety of individuals, public spending, the economy, the transition jobs towards sectors that have less impact on the environment, a just transition and ensuring that vulnerable populations are protected”.
More effort
74% of survey respondents said they were somewhat or completely worried about the impact of climate change on their health or public health. An identical proportion worry about their personal finances or public funds.
Meanwhile, only a quarter of the population somewhat or completely agrees with the idea that “the government is doing enough to adapt Quebec’s territory to the consequences of climate change” (28%) and that “governments are doing enough to limit the consequences of climate change on populations at risk in Quebec” (26%).
“The current government has taken stock of these environmental achievements. Groups like Équiterre consider that this is insufficient, that more needs to be done,” said Ms. Thorpe.
The Léger survey was carried out from May 27 to 29 with 1,004 respondents. The firm indicates that “it is not possible to calculate a margin of error on a sample drawn from a panel”, but that the usual maximum margin for such a sample is plus or minus 3%, 19 times over 20. In addition, the results were weighted according to participant characteristics such as gender or mother tongue to adjust to the demographic portrait of Quebec.