I am a retiree who cured her depression, among other things, thanks to a forest in Rimouski, in the lower part of the river. No matter the weather, I walk in “my” forest. What we call forest pharmacopoeia brings together all the health benefits of being in the forest, simply by breathing and letting the numerous properties (anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-stress) that the flora gives us act.
My children have long since left home and my husband died five years ago, yet I never feel alone surrounded by trees. We communicate, we talk to each other. Fortunately, I come across other lonely people also speaking out loud. It’s cheaper than a psychologist. During the confinements linked to the COVID pandemic, this forest transformed my tensions and my anxieties into soothing resources. Heatwaves, which are increasingly present, are naturally tempered there. It is a pagan church, without walls, only the canopy as a roof. In my woodI am a millionaire.
But we don’t all see things the same way. The administration of the City of Rimouski announced that it was going to raze this Garden of Eden to build a suburb from another era of 800 housing units, and thus, transform our forest pharmacopoeia into an immense heat island with monoculture grass, houses with parking, new streets with parking, asphalt, concrete, infrastructure, services, automobiles, etc.
I have read enough Orwell to be wary of those who say that to destroy is to build. This real estate project will not include any social or community housing, but despite this, the main reason for this new neighborhood would be to combat the housing crisis. If it were enough to build housing to resolve the crisis, it would already be more coherent.
The Institute for Socioeconomic Research and Information (IRIS) recently published a study which categorically states: “As long as the majority of the rental stock belongs to the private sector, the ability of tenants to find adequate housing will always be threatened. The construction of new housing is insufficient to remedy the crisis. »
While the country burns, Mayor Guy Caron offers a majestic magical forest at the request of private developers who will build expensive housing for those who are most affected by the crises – real estate and ecological. End of the world and end of the month, same fight. Fortunately, citizens are uniting to prevent the destruction of our free and healing living environment. A large majority of those consulted expressed their disagreement during information meetings and online consultations, and a petition with more than 1,100 names was submitted to the City.
Despite everything, Mayor Caron insists that the City will move forward. As the UN chief secretary says: “Current policies are leading the world towards 2.8°C of warming. This portends a catastrophe. Yet the collective response is pitiful. »