Environmental groups are joining forces to rekindle the flame of climate mobilization. In addition to the demonstration scheduled for Friday in Montreal for Earth Day, a climate strike is being prepared for next fall. A large march will also take place in Quebec on the occasion of Mother’s Day.
“We are expecting something very, very big! says Nathalie Ainsley, a spokesperson for Mothers at the Front, about the Bread and Forests march. The event, whose name refers to the historic feminist march of 1995 (Bread and Roses), will take place on Sunday May 8 in the capital and will end in front of the National Assembly.
“We act out of love for our children, out of a protective instinct,” explains Ms.me Ainsley. We are angry at the decisions of the government, which does not listen to science. His group is calling for a law that would require Quebec to meet environmental and social equity criteria in all its actions.
The Mothers at the Front, which has 30 local groups and 7,000 members, are “increasing the pressure” ahead of the fall provincial elections. A delegation also meets every Sunday in front of the Montreal office of Prime Minister François Legault.
Unions and collectives are active
Mobilization is also invigorating in the trade union world. “We have been working for several months for a climate strike in the fall,” explains François Geoffroy, a spokesperson for the Workers and Workers for Climate Justice (TJC) collective, founded a few months ago on the sidelines of the group La Planète s. invites to Parliament.
TJC is currently working to encourage the formation of local climate justice committees within different unions. A first union has already voted, last week, a mandate for a one-day climate strike next fall. For the moment, it is mainly education unions that are getting started, but not only: people from municipal civil servants, aeronautics and even the plastics industry are mobilizing their workplaces, underlines Ms. Geoffrey.
“We see that the concern is there, it is everywhere, and that, in all walks of life, there are people who are looking for ways to bring about change and make their voices heard,” said the spokesperson.
Demands have gone up a notch since the historic demonstration in September 2019: La Planète invites itself to Parliament and TJC are now demanding that fossil fuels be “banned” by 2030. They are also asking governments to tax “massively” wealth to invest in social programs.
The Student Coalition for an Environmental and Social Shift (CEVES) says it is “in solidarity” with the steps taken by TJC for next fall. “On our side, there is nothing as such that is planned [pour l’automne prochain]apart from trying to bring together as many students as possible to grow our movement,” said Léonard Leclerc, a spokesperson for CEVES.
CEVES is not idle for all that: it relies on “popular education” and on small events, such as the one held recently to underline its opposition to the Bay du Nord oil project. And on Friday, she co-organizes the demonstration “Inequalities and disordered climate: the rampage by the rich and the bankers, that’s enough! », which takes place in Montreal on the occasion of Earth Day.
Mr. Leclerc believes that part of the student population is ready to resume climate mobilization. “I think the pandemic has been thought-provoking,” he says. I also think that many of us are looking for ways to act. »
Pressure on federal elected officials
Actions will also be taken with elected officials. The Student Climate Action Front (FEDAC), a coalition of 330,000 young Quebecers through their student association, wants to get involved in the consultations that will frame the capping of emissions from the Canadian oil and gas sectors.
According to the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, presented by Justin Trudeau’s government at the end of March, the fossil sector must reduce its emissions by 31% by 2030, compared to 2005. The transport sector is the subject of a reduction target of 12%.
The FEDAC claims that the limitation of emissions from the fossil sector extends to the entire life cycle of fuels – from production to combustion – and that it also applies to exported hydrocarbons. “The GHGs linked to the combustion of our fossil fuel exports […] are, for the moment, excluded from any reduction plan, which is absolute nonsense”, denounces Simon Guiroy, coordinator and spokesperson for FEDAC.
In 2020, emissions from Canadian hydrocarbon exports were 883 megatonnes of CO2compared to 672 megatonnes for all domestic emissions.
To push its claim, the FEDAC will, in the coming months, encourage its members to put pressure on the federal deputies of Quebec. The coalition born from the reorientation of the Stop GNL group will also encourage its members to participate massively in a possible public consultation on the capping of emissions from the oil and gas sectors.