Five years to the day after the great climate march which mobilized hundreds of thousands of people, new demonstrations to highlight the climate emergency took place in the streets of Montreal and across Quebec on Friday. Although the number of demonstrators was much smaller, the sense of urgency was as great as in 2019.
Organized by the “For the rest of the world” movement, made up of a coalition of environmental organizations, student groups and unions, the Montreal march started around 6:30 p.m. at the foot of Mount Royal, at the monument in honor of George-Étienne Cartier, before parading through the streets of downtown.
The procession, about a hundred meters long, which brought together several hundred people, even a few thousand, first took Avenue du Parc before heading towards the city center. The demonstration was scheduled to end around 8 p.m., around the Bonaventure metro station.
Similar events are taking place elsewhere in the province, notably in Quebec, Saint-Jérôme, Rimouski, Baie-Comeau, Joliette and Sherbrooke, to demand the implementation of concrete actions in favor of the social and environmental transition.
On September 27, 2019, nearly half a million people, one of the largest demonstrations in Quebec history, marched through the streets of Montreal to demand concrete actions from governments to fight the climate crisis. Several public figures, including Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, and elected politicians took part.
“It was an ultra-galvanizing moment, which left its mark on the imagination. There are a lot of us [de militants] who wishes to rediscover the hope of this day, but we do with the available energies, said Alice Rivera, member of the “Transition Choir”, which campaigns through song for an ecological revolution.
Like many demonstrators interviewed by Dutyshe said she was disappointed not to see such a large-scale mobilization again.
“I feel like we lost a few players. Post-pandemic, there is a collective fatigue which has set in at many levels, particularly among young people. The pandemic has shut people down. When it comes time to mobilize, we may have fewer resources. And there are other issues, inflation, work, job insecurity, poor housing: these are lots of things which are perhaps more direct concerns for some people. »
“It’s a big disappointment to see that there are so few people. Obviously Friday evening is not the best time to do that, admitted Éric Ménard, independent environmental researcher, who nevertheless said he was motivated to continue the fight.
“It’s necessity that keeps us motivated. We have no choice, we cannot let things go as they are, it is a moral obligation for me to continue this fight as much as we can. For me, it is a moral duty towards the victims of climate change. »