Protesters press Legault to act on climate change

Critics see lack of focus on environment during campaign as a warning sign

Hundreds of protesters marched through downtown Montreal and the Centre-Sud on Saturday, chanting and blowing horns to make noise about the state of the environment after an electoral campaign that was all but silent on climate change.

“There is no Planet B,” they shouted, as they moved from one TV station to another in the hope of making the news.

“System change — not climate change,” they wrote on placards.

“For the future of our children,” they said, with their toddlers and teenagers in tow.

The non-partisan protest was the fourth in as many weeks under the banner of The Planet Goes to Parliament, calling on provincial and federal governments across the country to make climate change a top priority.

Having spawned and supported seven other protests across Quebec, from Cowansville to Saguenay, the organizers hope to expand across the country.

Recent elections in Ontario and Quebec, where Doug Ford and François Legault both campaigned for premier’s jobs with barely a mention of the environment, do not bode well, they said.

On Friday, Ford was in Calgary to attend an “anti-carbon tax” rally, siding with premier-hopeful Jason Kenney in urging Albertans to fight “the worst tax ever.”

Legault, meanwhile, the premier-elect of Quebec, was elected along with the Coalition Avenir Québec on promises to enlarge and extend certain highways and even build a third road link between the south and north shores of Quebec City.

“The CAQ’s only argument was to say that by building more roads there will be less traffic congestion, so fewer greenhouse gas emissions,” said Dominic Vézina.

“They didn’t even name any potential environment ministers on their list of possible ministers. … When it comes to the environment, they’re not serious.”

Carrying a sign that showed the distances from Montreal to Vanuatu, Haiti, the Philippines and Honduras — all of which have born the brunt of extreme climate events — Vézina said he thought Quebecers weren’t as concerned as they should be because they haven’t personally felt the effects of climate change. Yet.

Other protesters said we are already feeling the effect of climate change — even here.

About 90 people died in Quebec this summer in eight separate heat waves.

“After the summer we just had, we have to start asking questions,” said Jérôme Boislard.

“Climate change is already happening.”

Legault has to focus on public transit, not more roads, he said.

“I don’t care who’s in government, but I want to make sure the younger generations get to to live in a habitable world. Of all the political parties, the CAQ spoke the least about the environment. But Legault said he was going to govern for all Quebecers, so he shouldn’t forget those who voted to protect the environment.”

The protest came days before the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest summary findings on Monday, warning that droughts, wildfires, coral-reef destruction and other climate and environmental disasters could grow worse as soon as 2040.

Evelyne Beaulieu, who was marching in Montreal with her two children, aged five and eight, hoisted a sign that read, “I love my planet.”

Beaulieu said she worried about the environment not in two or three generations, but in her children’s own lifetime.

“The CAQ hasn’t said much at all about the environment — that’s what makes me afraid,” she said. “We have to keep protesting. Maybe they will see us, and something will change. But if we don’t even try …”

The CAQ’s only argument was to say that by building more roads there will be less traffic congestion, so fewer greenhouse gas emissions.