This text is part of the special Environment section
The tradition is well established: organizations and pressure groups present their demands to future elected officials so that they can flesh out their promises or push them through the cables.
In the face of the climate emergency, pious wishes are no longer in order, and this is why a coalition of environmental groups and citizens’ committees was created a few months before the municipal elections on November 7. Turns green, it is an invitation launched as much by La Planète is invited to parliament, Greenpeace, as Equiterre, but above all a (pressing) call for change in the face of the multiplication of ecological disorders.
Candidates and future elected officials will have food for thought in the face of these 68 proposals divided into 10 different themes, from water management to residual materials, public transport to urban agriculture and public safety. The menu is strong, “but we restricted ourselves,” concedes Marie-Ève Leclerc, project manager for Équiterre.
However, this rich menu is not only intended for politicians, but also for voters … not always there. Because with a participation rate of 42.46% in Montreal and 32.4% in Longueuil in 2017, there is no rush to the polls. For Marie-Ève Leclerc, this adds to the urgency “to mind our own affairs, because the city decides our daily life, starting with the water we drink, the transport we use, and proximity. shopping “.
She is also familiar with these starving participation rates, but remains convinced that the mobilization of elected officials on environmental issues requires that of citizens. Everyone will benefit from it, “because municipalities are the first responders in times of crisis”, especially since other levels of government are remote from citizens. “Before a federal law is passed to protect wetlands, the one nearby has already been destroyed to make way for condos. “
So, to turn green, and as quickly as possible, the next elections will have to be the scene of debates, mobilizations, and clashes of ideas between candidates and voters. And after November 7? “Citizens must regain control of their municipality,” says Marie-Ève Leclerc. More than 500 towns, villages and RCMs have signed the Declaration of climate emergency: we now want to know what they are going to put in place. “
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