(Quebec) A student coalition calls on the federal government to cap and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Canada’s hydrocarbon exports.
Posted at 7:48 p.m.
The Student Climate Action Front (FÉDAC), which brings together 330,000 students, will demonstrate on Thursday, notably in Montreal, Quebec, Chicoutimi, Rimouski and Ville-Marie.
Students will gather outside the office of federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault in his riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie, Montreal.
Liberal elected officials have been targeted because they form the government, but the Conservative MP for Chicoutimi, Richard Martel, is also targeted because FÉDAC wants to raise awareness among all parties.
“The message we are sending to all MPs from all parties in Quebec is that the federal government has promised legislation to reduce GHG emissions from the fossil fuel industry, so you must include GHG emissions from export of fossil fuels from Canada,” said FÉDAC spokesperson Simon Guiroy in an interview with The Canadian Press.
Why should we cap not only GHGs in the country, but also those that Canada helps to emit elsewhere in the world with the combustion of its exported hydrocarbons?
In 2019, Canada emitted a total of 730 megatonnes of GHGs, but exported 954 megatonnes of hydrocarbon-related GHGs, thus increasing emissions everywhere on the planet.
“It’s ridiculous to impose reduction measures that ignore most of the problem: the GHGs from our exports are even higher than our GHGs emitted for all of Canada,” argued Mr. Guiroy. This is the priority fight in the country, if we want to fight against the climate emergency. »
What’s more, the country’s GHG emissions were roughly stabilized between 2012 and 2019, while export-related emissions jumped 46%, he argued.
FÉDAC is already active on several fronts. In particular, he fights against the controversial Bay du Nord oil project, off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. He also led a movement against the LNG-Quebec project in Saguenay, which was blocked by both Quebec and the federal government.