The environment, the question of the ballot box? This is what science is asking for and what more and more citizens are hoping for, particularly in a context where the effects of climate change are increasing in Quebec. The environment division of To have to therefore goes to meet the population to measure the extent to which their vote will be influenced by ecological issues. Today: Gatineau.
Citizens who saw up close the tornado that notably devastated an underprivileged neighborhood in Gatineau in 2018 want to hear more solutions to climate change from those who aspire to lead Quebec.
“It changed my life, completely,” says Linda Giraldeau. The 67-year-old farmer has spent the past four years rebuilding her home in rural western Gatineau with the help of friends and volunteers. He still has to do the kitchen and his bedroom.
On September 21, 2018, pieces of farm buildings blown through the air by a passing tornado slammed into his home, which was uninsured. The natural disaster took away her roof, smashed all her furniture and destroyed her front door. Only its four walls held firm, erected in water damage.
What does she expect from the current Quebec elections? “My choice is not made, and I can’t wait to see what they [les partis] are going to do for the environment. ” She clarifies her thought: “Not to put other pitfalls, other laws to bully [la population]. What we need are solutions. »
The same concern is palpable in urban areas, in the Daniel-Johnson district, about ten kilometers to the east as the crow flies. A path traveled almost four years ago by an EF3 tornado, according to measurements by Environment Canada.
Serge Léonard was marked by the winds that swept through his neighborhood of apartment buildings. He had then barricaded himself at his neighbor downstairs; his accommodation had finally been spared. “It’s going to come more often. We tell ourselves that we had one, [mais] we will have several. »
For now, climate experts can’t say for sure if climate change will cause more tornadoes like the one in 2018. “We know it’s getting more likely, but we can’t say it’s going to happen in Gatineau. more often than elsewhere,” explains Jean-Pierre Blanchet, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Quebec in Montreal.
For Alain Bourque, general manager of the Ouranos consortium, “good climatological common sense” leads him to say that Quebec should not be surprised to see this kind of extreme event more often.
This is what the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University, for which Francis Lavigne-Theriault works for, is trying to measure. According to the researcher, however, tornado detection methods are too recent for such a link to be established. “We find that tornadoes happen more often than we think, but we don’t detect them. We should be better prepared. »
Social crisis
Installed on the balcony of his apartment, which he pays $679 a month, Mr. Léonard, who works as a cook in a breakfast restaurant, testifies to a lasting consequence of the tornado: the price of housing near his home has exploded. The natural disaster has been replaced by a housing crisis.
“I find that the owners, they took advantage of it, a lot”, confirms his neighbor Thérèse Lavergne, who works as a building concierge. “There are some who put tenants out to do renovations and almost double the price. We are talking about $1300 [par mois] for two bedrooms. Not everyone works in government! »
In the chaos of the violent storm of 2018, lightning also started a fire in a secondary school in the area, which forced the temporary relocation of students. The works at the Mont-Bleu school must last at least until the start of the 2023 school year. “When climate change will cause mass displacement, refugees will not be well received,” predicts Nicolas Pedneault.
After the passage of the tornado of 2018, the Prime Minister at the time, Philippe Couillard, then in the middle of the electoral campaign, had moved to see the damage. The municipal councilor who represents the district, Isabelle N. Miron, then showed him the gutted facades of buildings in the area. Several of them are now demolished and have been replaced by new ones.
“It’s really a neighborhood that was historically more disadvantaged. Obviously, this is the neighborhood where the tornado had to do the least damage, and this is where it happened, unfortunately, “says the councilor at the To have to under scorching heat.
The elected official says she hears more and more often her fellow citizens talking about global warming, especially since the city also experienced major flooding in 2017 and 2019. “I have the impression that everyone is saying that he wants to talk about the environment, but we are all individually quite reluctant to change our own habits”, she specifies.
When it comes time to vote, Thérèse Lavergne will choose Premier François Legault’s Coalition avenir Québec, in which she still places her hopes of making progress, including in the environment. “I think he tries a lot to help us, but it seems there is something blocking somewhere. […] I’m sure it’s higher than him, the problem. »
For his part, Serge Léonard is seriously considering voting for the Conservative Party of Quebec. “Them others [les conservateurs]they talk about cleanliness, [changement] climate, environment, etc. Help people who are out because they have nothing. »
His choice is motivated by his disappointment with governments’ broken promises on the environment and housing: it’s a protest vote, he agrees.