(Quebec) Activists, however, opposed the idea of taxing polluting vehicles
Liberal activists sent the signal on Saturday that they intended to follow leader Dominique Anglade in her new environmental and progressive turn, by adopting a multitude of green proposals, in addition to setting a target for reducing GHG emissions ranging from “Up to 45%” from 1990 level by 2030.
The leader assured at the beginning of the congress that the environment would be “the top priority” of a Liberal government to demonstrate “that we are serious about climate change”.
The activists adhered to his proposal on the second day of the members’ congress, meeting in Quebec. All of the environmental proposals were adopted smoothly. The only discordant note: they are not ready to introduce “disincentives”, for example a taxation on the purchase of polluting vehicles such as SUVs and vans.
After a long debate, members finally rejected the proposal by 67%, despite an amendment to exempt contractors and workers for whom this type of vehicle is necessary. Some members pointed out the usefulness of this type of vehicle for circulating in rural areas and for all citizens.
“I think the activists weren’t there yet. The Youth Commission is. We will continue to push [cette idée], it is not a fight which is finished, indicated the president of the Youth Commission of the Liberal Party of Quebec, Gabriel Ahmad. “It won’t be easy, the transition,” he added in an interview.
According to him, it’s all well and good to have ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but we also need measures to be put in place “quickly after the elections to reach these targets” . Mr Ahmad admits that it was “a little more radical proposal”, but he “especially wanted to bring the debate”.
The young liberals, on the other hand, succeeded in pushing through a target of reducing GHG emissions “by up to 45%” from 1990 levels by 2030. Activists supported the increase of the target at 87%. green of Quebec.
The initial proposal aimed to provide Quebec with “floor targets permanently linked to the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) currently targeting carbon neutrality in 2050 while pursuing even more ambitious targets”, without giving precise numbers.
This is more than the current target of the Legault government, set at 37.5%, but less than that set by Québec solidaire. Solidarity activists gathered in congress last weekend adopted the proposal to “reduce Quebec’s emissions by at least 55% compared to the 1990 level by 2030, by getting as close as possible to the target of 65. % ”.
A target that members of the liberal parliamentary wing consider “unrealistic”.
Carbon allocation to ministries
The youth wing also succeeded in getting a proposal adopted for the Council of Ministers to be endowed with a “global carbon budget that decreases from year to year so that each ministry has a carbon allocation not to be exceeded”.
The activists also voted to make the “right to a green and sustainable environment and to the protection of biodiversity a fundamental right with supralegislative value”, which means that it could invalidate laws and government decisions that do not would not respect him.
The environment was at the heart of the proposals debated on Saturday. It should be noted that the members were only able to comment on the first axis of the book of resolutions, that on the environment and climate change, as well as part of those on services to citizens.
Technical problems at the opening of the debates considerably delayed the study of the Framework Resolution. The entire section on the modernization of agriculture and the labor shortage will therefore be examined by internal bodies. This Sunday, activists will vote on regional political resolutions.
On other issues, the Liberals voted for incentives for users of public transport, “such as making public transport free for all”, while the initial proposal was only for “students and seniors”. In 2018, Philippe Couillard had promised in the campaign to make public transport free for students without age limit and for people 65 and over.
As she unveiled on Friday, the liberal leader will rely on the “ECO project”, which notably provides for the nationalization of green hydrogen, to distinguish herself from her political opponents.
M’s planme Anglade is accompanied by pledges of 100 billion in public and private investments.
Read “” ECO project “: Dominique Anglade promises 100 billion in investments”