The spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, refuses to lecture those who drink their 7 Up with a plastic straw or brew their coffee with a plastic stick. The success of the ecological transition depends on it, according to him.
“We have to stop judging each other on who does enough, not enough so that as a society, together, we can make better choices and then give ourselves the possibility in our individual lives to make ecological choices. What we need is a change of society, ”he argued during a jump in Rimouski this weekend.
The 32-year-old politician says he is convinced that only “hope” – and not “fear” – can amplify the mobilization of the population for climate action. “You, do you drink your 7 Up with a cardboard straw? Do you brew your coffee with a piece of plastic or a piece of wood? This way of seeing the ecological transition as [si elle était] based on individual choices only, I think that’s an old way of looking at things. We, what we want at Québec solidaire, is to give the possibility of making better choices, ”he argued, while pointing to QS’s Vision 2030 climate plan.
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois reacted to a publication by solidarity candidate Laurence Pageau (Anjou–Louis-Riel) on Facebook in January 2021. “It is unfortunate, but it seems to me more and more that the short-term solution is to constantly show critical thinking in relation to our consumption and that of those around us. Feel bad. Make the world feel bad for making decisions that go against your values,” said the project manager at the Clinique en environnement at the University of Sherbrooke. “Peer pressure and fear of judgment are human weaknesses that can be used to fight climate change. Otherwise, the deficient capacity of the human mind to conceive of climate risk and to act accordingly will again and again fail to make us take the right actions in time,” she continued.
“GND” remains convinced that “we will never succeed in Quebec in making this transition if we just judge each other”.
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois recalled that QS participates in the greenhouse gas (GHG) offsetting program set up by the Chair in eco-advice at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi (UQAC). The GHG emissions made during the Montreal-Rimouski round trip of the solidarity caravan will be counted.
The QS spokesperson gave a hand to QS candidate Carol-Ann Kack (Rimouski) by participating in particular in pointing and door-to-door with her. “This year, the progressives, the separatists must rally behind Carol-Ann,” he argued during a press briefing in an electoral office teeming with life.
Call for youth votes
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois called on young people (and less young people) to block the “climate change acceleration plan” of the Coalition avenir Québec, which includes investments of nearly $7.5 billion in ” projects that will worsen climate change” such as a third road link between Quebec and Lévis, and the extension of roads here and there. “The young people of Quebec, in this election, have about one vote out of three, that’s a power. What I say to young people is: use that little bit of power that you have. This is the last chance election for climate change. Don’t let that little bit of power slip through your fingers,” he insisted.
QS enjoys the support of 36% of voters between the ages of 18 and 34, according to the latest Léger-Le Journal de Montréal-TVA-QUB poll. “This is a generation that unfortunately in recent years has voted less than the others,” noted Mr. Nadeau-Dubois on Sunday, before reiterating his call for a vote despite the CAQ’s projections of victory on October 3.
No matter where he is in the room of the National Assembly, the “ecologist”, “responsible” and “combative” deputies of Québec Solidaire will encourage the government to intensify the fight against climate change. “I am campaigning to win, but if we are in opposition on October 3, the more supportive MPs there are in front of the government, the more we will be able to put pressure on the government opposite do as much as possible on climate change,” he said.
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois cannot believe that the leader of the CAQ, François Legault, said, in an interview with the Montreal Journalthat “for young people, the priority should not just be the environment, it should be education”.
But, “if the climate gets the hell out, everything else will get the fuck out,” said the supportive spokesperson, while saying that he observes a growing “eco-anxiety” among the Quebec population. “If François Legault had wanted to give a good reason to the young people of Quebec to vote on October 3, well, he has just given them one. […] Young people don’t need to be told what to think by François Legault. They need a prime minister who listens to them”, repeats “GND”. “I can’t believe it! », « What paternalism! »
Focus
Laurence Pageau explained on Sunday afternoon that he had sought through his message of January 5, 2021 to “simply invite [son] readership to reflect” on “the different social levers at our disposal to accelerate the ecological transition”. “If I joined Québec solidaire this summer, it is because I share Gabriel and Manon’s vision that the ecological transition is a social project that will benefit everyone and that requires the collective participation of citizens. , but especially from the government. It is important to put this forward so that people have hope and want to be part of the change, ”she assured her subscribers.