According to Radio-Canada’s analysis of heat islands in urban areas across the country, the sectors most affected are neighborhoods where the average income is lower, where the average age is higher and where a larger portion of residents are of immigrant origin. For some time now, several cities and municipalities have adopted greening programs, some more ambitious than others. When, like me, you live in one of these areas where extreme heat rages more often than elsewhere, these greening policies are more than welcome. However, we should not limit ourselves to these municipal initiatives to make a real difference. The Government of Quebec can also lend a hand by ensuring that governmental and paragovernmental institutions contribute to the elimination of heat islands in their facilities.
By reading this, all the inhabitants of the Sainte-Marie district in the Centre-Sud in Montreal will surely have in mind the headquarters of the Sûreté du Québec, which is a surprising anachronism in 2022 and an unnamed horror. In addition, the huge parking lots that surround the building contribute significantly to the rise in temperatures in the area. This has been known and documented for a long time, and nothing has been done. On the contrary, one of the parking lots has recently been redone, without taking into account the impacts on the neighborhood, mainly the Champlain elementary school next door.
This is not just a question of discomfort, but of public health. […] Beyond the Frost fences and barbed wire that surround the headquarters, there are citizens who live there and deserve respect.
To see in video