The mayors of major cities in Quebec are asking the future government to give them the means to deal with climate change by signing a “green pact” granting them $10 billion over five years.
• Read also: The QLP promises the return of the RénoVert program
Gathered in Montreal at the invitation of Mayor Valérie Plante, who is president of the big cities caucus of the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ), the mayors took the opportunity to send their message.
They are calling for a “flexible and unrequited” financial agreement of $2 billion per year for five years to “protect their population, their infrastructure and their long-term financial viability”.
“We want these $2 billion to be found in our next budgets in our different cities,” urged Ms.me Plant. “If the Government of Quebec wishes to achieve its GHG reduction targets and its environmental objectives, it needs municipalities.”
“Municipalities across Quebec are sounding the alarm and showing up. The government of Quebec must be there too,” added the mayor of Varennes, Martin Damphousse, president of the UMQ’s Committee on Climate Change.
- Listen to the interview with Bruno Marchand on Yasmine Abdelfadel’s show broadcast live every day at 2:15 p.m. via QUB-radio :
Consequences
The municipalities argue that they are directly affected by the consequences of climate change on their territory. They are the ones who must manage the damage linked to floods, precipitation, extreme heat or more intense freeze-thaw cycles, they argue.
These extreme weather events undermine drinking water treatment facilities, sewage pipes and the local road network. And that will only go on accelerating in the future.
Sustainable development
“The current situation requires significant action and we are counting on the next government to support cities in their efforts to achieve their objective of sustainable and intelligent development. The needs are growing and are increasingly placed under the responsibility of cities, ”said the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand, in a press release.
The cities are basing their financial requests on a recent study by WSP and Ouranos, which puts the cost of climate change for cities at $2 billion per year.
On Tuesday, the outgoing Prime Minister, François Legault, refused to commit, recalling that the CAQ has promised an additional percentage point of QST and is already investing $7 billion in its Plan for a Green Economy, which will be able to finance certain projects in the municipalities.