Quebec City Climate-Change March Draws 25,000
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- Published on Monday, 13 April 2015 11:34
- Written by editor
By Staff, www.cbc.ca
April 12th, 2015
Above photo:A climate-change march drew about 25,000 people to the streets of Quebec City on April 11, 2015, as protesters try to encourage premiers to take a tougher stance on climate and pipeline regulations. (Mathieu Belanger/Reuters)
March is in advance of premiers’ summit next week.
A climate-change march drew about 25,000 people to the streets of Quebec City on Saturday, as protesters try to encourage premiers to take a tougher stance on climate and pipeline regulations.
The march was organized by Act On Climate — a coalition of groups including environmental groups, unions, students and aboriginal groups.
It’s in preparation for a premiers’ summit on climate change which will take place on Tuesday, April 14.
The focus is a greener strategy for Canada’s provinces and territories.
About 100 buses were driven to the rally with many passengers from different parts of Quebec. Once there, they marched for about three kilometres to the National Assembly.
Protesters wore red and arranged themselves so that from the sky it looked like a bursting thermometer.
Protesters against pipelines
High on the list of demands from the group is stopping the building of new pipelines, including Keystone, Energy East, and Northern Gateway.
Serge Simon, the grand chief of Kanesatake, said Quebec environmentalists should look to British Columbia.
“You could take the example of the B.C. premier [Christy Clark]. The B.C. premier had a lot of pressure brought to them and they put these conditions that stopped Northern Gateway,” he said.
“The premier of Quebec [Philippe Couillard] can do the same thing if he stops catering to big corporate interests. I don’t see why he can’t do this.”
‘Our political leaders must accept this responsibility, put in place ambitious measures to combat climate change and keep tar sands pressure out of provincial climate talks,’ said Christian Simard of Nature Quebec. (Mathieu Belanger/Reuters)
Saturday’s march concluded with a concert featuring Les Respectables, Yann Perreau and Sarah Harmer.
On Monday, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne will sign a deal with Quebec on a cap-and-trade system to limit carbon emissions.
About 100 buses were driven to the rally with many passengers from different parts of Quebec. Once there, they marched for about three kilometres to the National Assembly. The march is in preparation for a premiers’ summit on climate change which will take place April 14. (Marika Wheeler/CBC)
