Five years after the 2019 protests, the Regional Coalition for Climate and Social Justice wants to send a message to all levels of government. “We must accelerate the transition.”
“We see that in social consciousness, something has changed. Before 2019 versus after 2019, it’s really not the same thing,” said Anaïs Gousse, from the social sciences students’ association at Laval University and co-spokesperson for the event.
Naélie Bouchard-Sylvain and Anaïs Gousse, co-spokespersons of the event were on hand to make their demands loud and clear. (Gabrielle Pichette/Le Soleil)
According to the student, the government does not feel concerned about the climate crisis. “What is needed is political will.”
Emergency
“The consequences are now, here, and they affect real people,” says Naélie Bouchard-Sylvain, coordinator of the Popular Education Group in Community Action of the Quebec and Chaudière-Appalaches regions and co-spokesperson for the event.
She asks those responsible to stop “turning a blind eye” and want to see concrete actions.
In a few minutes, the number of demonstrators increased dramatically at Braves Park. (Gabrielle Pichette/Le Soleil)
“Public transportation, if it were free, affordable and accessible already, it would reduce greenhouse gases caused by transportation,” she continues.
Of all ages
Among the crowd, we could see the youngest demonstrators in thumbs up to the grandparents brandishing their signs.
For Vicky, this is not the first time she has demonstrated. “It’s been more than ten years since I took a plane and I’m very careful with all my purchases, people are not aware of the urgency.”
“We need to wake up and it’s urgent.”
— Vicky
For their part, Eve and Marianne rarely find themselves in this type of event. But this time, they felt the need to be present. “The climate is our future, if we don’t take care of it we will have more room to live,” explains Ève.
“We want this to stop, we want the government to take action,” says Marianne.
Police deployment
On site, around twenty police officers from the Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ) were deployed.
Around twenty police officers were present at the scene of the demonstration to ensure the smooth running of the event. (Gabrielle Pichette/Le Soleil)
The deployment of agents would be “to ensure traffic, eliminate vehicles in their event and ensure their safety,” according to Jean-Michel Côté-Lemieux, agent in charge of crowd control for the SPVQ.
