(Rimouski) With Québec solidaire, it is not just citizens who will have to get involved in the fight against climate change. Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois wants to “tighten the screws” on manufacturers, even if some of them reduce their activities, but he promises in the wake of programs to “requalify” employees.
Updated yesterday at 8:39 p.m.
“All major issuers will have to review their practices. We can no longer give privileges to large emitters [de gaz à effet de serre (GES)]. We can no longer have a carbon exchange that gives so many passes to major GHG emitters, ”explained the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire in a press briefing on Saturday.
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois thus returned to a statement from the day before, when he had been arrested by an activist during a public meeting he was holding at the Paradis solidarity cooperative, in Rimouski. She had asked him why “Quebec solidaire fears his political suicide more than our collective suicide”, since the party refuses to give up economic growth to save the planet.
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois then retorted that certain sectors of activity, such as social housing, health or public transport, should continue to grow. Overall, the party does not believe that degrowth is necessary to achieve climate goals. But some sectors will suffer.
There are sectors of our economy that certainly need to shrink. The oil sector… there are several industrial sectors that will have to reduce their activities in the coming years, the next decades, it is true.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois stressed that his party would not let the workers down and wants to put forward, in its climate plan which will be presented this Sunday, a “just transition”.
Going green in the countryside
After having presented commitments in health, in terms of the cost of living crisis, for seniors, then for CPEs, Québec solidaire is betting big on its climate plan. In a speech delivered in Longueuil in the evening in front of a hundred activists, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois said that this would be a “turning point” in his campaign.
“I will drag him from tomorrow everywhere in Quebec. I will wield it at every opportunity. Tomorrow is a turning point in our campaign. Starting tomorrow, I’m giving myself the objective of finally imposing the subject of the fight against climate change in this election campaign,” launched Mr. Nadeau-Dubois, arousing loud applause.
All the other promises we make, all the commitments we make are basically worthless if the planet gets out. If the planet gets out, there won’t be any prosperity.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire
It promises transparency and honesty. He will explain to voters that it is not possible to succeed in the fight against climate change by “changing nothing”.
No privileges
In the industrial field, these changes will affect refineries, and other industries that he did not name. “What is the right economic decision? Stubbornly persist in sectors destined to decline, or invest in sectors of the future and support workers in declining industries to requalify them and not lose jobs? he asked.
He refuses to put all the pressure on individuals while the big polluters benefit from “privileges in the carbon market”.
“It’s not fair to put pressure on the world and let the big polluters off the hook,” said Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.
Requalification
The parliamentary leader, however, promises to put in place a “requalification” program at the center of his just transition. This program will have two purposes. First, support workers in industries that are modernizing. “If it is necessary to modernize or change the ways of doing things and that means that workers no longer have the skills, they must be requalified. We can’t just leave them on the side of the road,” said Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.
Then, to support the employees of the famous “declining” industries, which Mr. Nadeau-Dubois did not want to name, with the exception of refineries: “We cannot abandon them. These people want to make a living. This is just transition,” he explained.