Eight people were killed and 22 injured in a shooting Saturday in West Texas, including the gunman. The 30-year-old suspect was known to local police. According to Reuters, the suspect stole a postal van before opening fire on police officers and civilians. Shortly after, he was shot down by the police.
Hurricane Dorian has intensified to a category five storm as it approached the Abaco Islands on Sunday. The hurricane’s sustained winds have increased from 240 km/h to 290 km/h after landfall in the Bahamas archipelago, according to the National Hurricane Center. Many U.S. coastal dwellers from Florida to California are concerned with potential risks of damaging winds and deadly flooding even if the storm doesn’t directly hit the U.S., according to the Associated Press.
German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier asked for Poland’s forgiveness for Nazi “tyranny” during World War II. The apology occurred on Sunday, in the city of Wielun, 80 years after the bombing of the city, according to the BBC. The small city, located 250 km West of Warsaw, was bombed by the German Air Force on Sept. 1, 1939, marking the beginning of the most devastating war of our era.
Anthoine Hubert, a French 22-year-old Formula 2 pilot, died last Saturday in a fatal crash during a race on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. Since 1994, a lot of progress in terms of security made it possible for pilots to survive the most fatal crashes. However, according to the Agence France Presse, Hubert’s vehicle literally split in half. French flags were put up across the stadium and a minute of silence was held before the start of Sunday’s race in honour of Hubert.
The Amazon forest has been burning for the past four weeks at an alarming speed. In July only, areas of the forest were being cleared at a rate of five football fields a minute according to The Guardian. While there is only a portion of the forest on fire, experts estimate that 2019 might be the most destructive year for the Amazon in 10 years.
Tension rises as two drones crashed in Beirut’s southern suburb on Sunday, according to Reuters. While Israel has not claimed responsibility for the drone strikes, Lebanese president Michel Aoun claims the attack as “a declaration of war.” The Hezbollah also warned Israeli soldiers at the border to await a response.
President Donald Trump proposed nuking hurricanes before they made landfall in an attempt to neutralize the storms. However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) suggest the results would be “devastating,” according to the BBC. “Radioactive fallout would fairly quickly move with the tradewinds to affect land areas,” said the NOAA. Trump denied making this proposition in a Tweet.
Chemists will be gathering in San Diego this week to present latest research on chocolate and cannabis. According to new research, chocolate’s properties can throw off potency tests, leading to inaccurate labeling in states where marijuana is legal, according to the Associated Press. Chocolate edibles may contain a way bigger dose of THC than their label, sometimes sending consumers into unexpected trips.
As we come to the end of a summer with some of the highest recorded temperatures, Elections Canada’s decision to declare climate crisis ads as partisan activities during the election period fueled a lot of reactions across the country.
Although Election Canada says it only applies to “activities or ads that specifically identify a candidate or party,” Dianne Saxe, former environmental commissioner of Ontario, argues that such regulations means the absence of science-based information.
The decision came after the leader of the People’s Party of Canada, Maxime Bernier, made some remarks questioning the urgency and legitimacy of the climate crisis. As a result of such claims, any groups planning to run paid advertisements over $500 must now register with the government as a third party.
While there’s much misinformation and fake news threatening our democracy, declaring such an important issue as partisan is stopping environmental organizations from carrying the facts and helping Canadians make the best decisions throughout the election.
The environmental crisis is not an opinion. Nor is it a choice. It has become everyone’s responsibility, especially our leaders, to start making decisions that will positively affect our planet. And if we can’t even talk about it during elections, we are destined to remain blind.
Climate change; global warming; the planet is dying–however you want to label it, the time to act in order to reverse the severe damage to our planet is now.
According to a recent report by the United Nations, the world is 1° C hotter than it was between 1850 and 1900. In 2015, 196 world leaders came together to sign the Paris Agreement, a plan to keep global warming well below 2°C.
According to the World Wildlife Foundation, if the world doesn’t collectively act to reduce negative changes by 2100, sea levels could rise by 1.8 per cent, virtually all coral reefs will die, arctic summers will be nearly ice-free, 2.7 billion people will be exposed to heat waves every five years, flooding will increase by 170 per cent, and 18 per cent of insects and plants will lose more than half their habitat.
Luckily, if everyone does their part, there’s still hope. Coming into the new school year, implementing a sustainable approach to everyday routines can help. Little changes go a long way for the environment.
Food and drink
Several major U.S. cities like Seattle and Washington D.C. banned plastic straws this year. In June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his plan to ban all single-use plastics by 2021. As a result of these bans, reusable straws have become more popular. If you’re a frequent straw-user, there are many alternatives to plastic straws, such as metal or silicone straws that you can buy and keep on you at all times to avoid using plastic ones.
Bringing a reusable water bottle and travel mug with you for constant water and coffee/tea refills can also reduce your plastic water bottle/coffee cup usage.
For food, wrapping your lunches in beeswax paper is a sustainable alternative to using plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Canadian brand Mind Your Bees Wraps makes eco-friendly colourful reusable beeswax wraps for all food storage purposes. Tupperware’s and cloth snack pouches are also a great alternative to plastic bags for trickier loose foods.
Carry reusable grocery bags in your pocket or backpack for when you need to go shopping—most grocery stores now charge for plastic bags. When shopping for groceries, try choosing a zero-waste grocery store where you can bring your own containers and buy in bulk. Méga-Vrac is a zero-waste grocery store with two locations, in Rosemont and Hochelaga, that offer discounts on products if you bring your own containers. The waste-free store also offers all the products listed above!
Health and beauty
Wasting less and choosing eco-friendly products is possible even for your beauty routine. In regards to menstruation, some alternatives to regular tampons or pads are menstrual cups such as the Diva Cup or menstrual cloth pads.Try using reusable cloth pads to remove makeup instead of disposable cotton pads and handkerchiefs instead of tissues.
When it comes to hygiene, try choosing a soap bar or shampoo bar instead of liquid soap–it usually lasts longer and doesn’t come in a plastic container. Ditch your plastic toothbrush and opt for a bamboo toothbrush. Did you know the plastic and nylon used in your toothbrush are virtually indestructible? According to National Geographic, approximately 23 billion toothbrushes are thrown out in the U.S. every year. Most of the plastic ends up in our oceans, killing marine life–100,000 marine animals per year to be exact. According to Ocean Crusaders Foundation, over 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris are currently in our oceans.
Studies
Here is something to think about: how much paper does Concordia and its students use every year? A lot of people around campus have already switched to digital for practical reasons. Try going digital this semester by taking notes on Google Docs/Word/Pages, opting for a PDF or ebook instead of textbooks, and handing in your assignments online (when permitted of course).
Mobility
According to Statistics Canada, the transport sector is responsible for 74 per cent of CO2 emissions. That’s why thinking of the way you travel is crucial to a more eco-friendly lifestyle. Luckily, Montreal has a variety of sustainable transportation options. Try to ride to school on a Bixi or Jump bike if you don’t have your own. Bixi docs are all over downtown and at least 3 can be found in close proximity of the downtown campus. The new Lime e-scooters are now a fun new option for days when you just don’t feel like pedaling. Another option is to use public transit, the shuttle bus or carpooling with friends. The fewer cars used per person, the less greenhouse gasses emitted.
Acting to help reverse the severe effects of climate change is an adjustment, but if everyone does their part, it’s possible.
The Dish Project challenges Concordia students and faculty to live waste-free for five days
From March 11 to 15, several Concordia organizations are encouraging students to partake in the Zero Waste Challenge 2019. Part of the event series Sustain’alive, the Dish Project, Concordia University Center for Creative Reuse (CUCCR), and Zero Waste Concordia organized this challenge to encourage Concordia students, faculty and staff to try living “zero waste” for five days.
“The objective of the challenge is to really start a conversation about waste and unsustainable waste management on and off campus, and to create a strong community around the zero waste movement at Concordia,” said Maya Provencal, the external coordinator of The Dish Project. Participants are challenged to refrain from creating any landfill waste, and instead use products that are recyclable, reusable, or able to be repurposed.
Adopting a completely zero waste lifestyle may sound difficult at first, which is precisely why the Zero Waste Challenge was created. Since it is a community effort, participants are encouraged to share tips and tricks for living a more sustainable lifestyle. This way, the challenge won’t seem as intimidating. “It can be really scary to try and move away from that dependency, especially alone, so The Dish Project started the Zero Waste Challenge in an attempt to make this a community affair rather than an individual one,” said Provencal.
Those wishing to partake in the challenge can sign up through email and receive tips from The Dish Project. Participants are also encouraged to tailor the challenge to meet their own lifestyle if they feel they cannot commit to living completely zero waste. For example, changing one aspect of their daily routine, such as packing a reusable water bottle instead of a plastic one, is an excellent start. Taking small steps towards being more eco-conscious contributes to larger change.
Taking steps to create a waste-conscious community both on and off campus is pertinent since sustainability is an issue that affects everyone, albeit disproportionately. Many think it is simply an environmental issue, yet it is also a social and economic issue.
Provencal explained that our current extraction-based economic system wastes valuable resources, contributes to landfills and other waste management sites, and that this system affects marginalized communities at an extremely disproportionate level. “We want students to understand that by reducing their waste production, they are rejecting this destructing system and creating a better world,” said Provencal.
Why the upcoming protest about climate change is needed
On Friday, March 15, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., many Concordia students will participate in a walkout to protest inaction from authority figures on the issue of climate change. The strike will be in solidarity with international climate strikes and walkouts in other institutions in Montreal, such as McGill and UdeM. Later in the day, protesters will join a Montreal-wide march to stand up for climate action.
Now, although I do not condone skipping class, I would like to stress the importance of the call to action this protest aims for: to raise awareness on the current environmental crisis we find ourselves in and to act now for a more sustainable future for our planet. To get a little scientific, the Keeling curve (which many aren’t aware of) is a graph of the accumulation of measurements of the concentration of CO2 emissions taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii from 1958 to today. The sense of urgency to take action stems from the Keeling curve, as it has been increasing—this year it has reached its highest level of CO2 concentration measured ever!
As a Master’s student in environmental assessment, in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, I’ve learnt about the environmental science behind these issues firsthand and the detailed extent of how humans impact the planet. Just last week, our class visited the Anthropocene exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada. Witnessing attendees appreciate the beauty in photos of environmental destruction as art was terrifying, to say the least. However, it did bring about an opportunity for the public to learn about the effects we’ve imposed on our environment, similarly to what the walkout aims to do.
March 15 is an important date since many schools will be on strike that day to follow the European demonstration movement initiated by Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish political activist working to fight against climate change and global warming. It is crucial to acknowledge that this walkout is a response to a global issue. It is also important to emphasize the international scale of this crisis, as seen by the lone protest of Thunberg. Her actions have led to a powerful global movement of school climate strikes, spreading to countries in the UK, Australia, Belgium, Germany, the United States, Japan and dozens more, demanding politicians act on behalf of the planet, according to The Guardian.
At the UN Climate Change COP24 in Katowice, Poland, in December 2018, Thunberg announced, “[World leaders today] only talk about moving forward with the same bad ideas that got us into this mess even when the only sensible thing to do is to pull the emergency brake.” Following this urgency for action against today’s environmental issues, Concordia’s Department of Geography, Planning and Environment has begun a number of projects in support of raising awareness and promoting ways to reduce our environmental impact.
Some of these projects include Concordia’s Climate Clock, which shows how current greenhouse gas emissions affect our planet’s trajectory to reach two degrees. Another project is Climate Bytes, which aims to translate complicated studies on climate change into “digestible byte-sized pieces of information” for the public to more easily understand the science behind these issues. Another is the newly formed Climate Emergency Committee, which allows students within the department and professors in the field to come together and discuss the issues and ways to move forward in addressing these problems.
To learn more about these issues, I invite you all to attend the upcoming Sustainability in the City and Beyond conference from March 19 to 21 at the Loyola Jesuit Hall and Conference Centre. Here, the Climate Emergency Committee will be speaking more about their work.
Remember, the need for action is urgent, and the time to become aware of environmental issues and how to help is now!
The chilly weather did not stop 50 thousand protestors from demanding stricter laws and regulations against climate change from Quebec Premier François Legault’s government on Nov. 10.
“We want to believe that [Legault] will make the environment a top priority, and we want to make sure his actions will match his words,” said Nathalie Roy, a spokesperson of The Planet Goes to Parliament, the non-profit group that organized the march. “Right now, the picture does not seem coherent.”
The Great Climate March began at 2:30 p.m. at Place des Festivals and ended at the Mordecai Richler gazebo in Mount Royal Park two hours later.
“Ceci n’est pas une pipeline” (“This is not a pipeline.”) Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
Many participants carried placards with slogans such as, “Change the way you consume,” “Climate Justice. Indigenous Sovereignty” and “All together for our planet.” Throughout the march, demonstrators chanted, “There is no planet B” and “Here and now, for the future of our children.”
According to Roy, one catalyst of the march was the heat wave that killed more than 90 people in Quebec over the summer. “The problem we have is that people seem to treat [natural disasters] as isolated phenomena,” said Roy. “Climate change is happening now, and we can no longer remain in denial.”
The Planet Goes to Parliament made three demands of Legault and his administration, including the development of a provincial climate plan in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s objective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 and completely eliminate them by 2050. The organization also called on the government to raise awareness about the current climate emergency and threats to biodiversity.
Additionally, the group demanded the government ban new oil and gas exploration and development projects, and put an end to all direct and indirect fossil fuel subsidies.
“We tend to think that changing our lifestyles is going to be hard,” Roy said. “Maybe changing our lifestyles will improve our quality of life—more time and less work.” Roy added that these changes would include an increased use of public transit and reduced work hours.
Patrick Bonin, a spokesperson for Greenpeace Canada who attended the protest, said his role is to make sure citizens are pressuring the Quebec government to do its part to protect the environment. “We still have time to change, but there’s no more time to waste,” he said.
“I’m melting!” says the Earth on one protestor’s hat. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
Bonin said if the government does not take the issue to heart, people will take matters into their own hands. “If they can’t be responsible,” he said, “we will responsibilize them” through non-violent civil disobedience such as sitting in front of the offices of members of parliament and blocking construction and gas exploration projects.Some of the march’s participants spoke about the importance of attending the march and fighting for an eco-friendly economy. Caroline Beyor said she wants to see real changes in her daily life, including a reduction of plastic and more government-run companies at grocery stores.
“I want to be sure what they’re selling me is safe for our planet,” Beyor said. “I want to rely on the government and not on profit.”
: A man holds a sign reading “D’après nous… le deluge?” (“After us… the flood?”) Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
Beyor also recommended Montrealers stop buying things they do not or rarely use, and consider going vegan.
“Be the change,” she told The Concordian. “Be the example. You can’t change everybody. Do it yourself, and people will follow.”
The Montreal Raging Grannies is a non-profit organization that has been active in Montreal for 25 years. Through songs and other political demonstrations, they bring attention to a variety of social justice and environmental issues. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
Action against climate change and divestment is needed, now.
With signs held high and voices ringing clear above the blaring traffic on Commune St. E. in the Old Port on Saturday Sept. 8, more than 200 protesters united against the climate change crisis. Rise for Climate was supported by non-profit organization 350 Canada, in collaboration with a handful of local grassroots initiatives such as Leap Montreal, Rap Battles for Social Justice (RB4SJ) and the Montreal Raging Grannies. The gathering was one of more than 900 rallies simultaneously taking place across 95 countries worldwide, all demanding divestment from fossil fuel industries, among other things.
“Indigenous women and girls are three times more likely to experience violence, and six times more likely to be murdered than non-Indigenous women,” said Beatrice Dimaculangan, an activist, rapper, and community organizer with RB4SJ.
“We’ve already passed the point of no return,” said Sally Livingston, a Concordia alumna and member of the Montreal chapter of the Council of Canadians. “We do not want our tax dollars going to any more fossil fuel investments.” Toward the end of August, according to Global News, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the Trans Mountain Pipeline plans due to insufficient consultations with Indigenous communities. However, according to the same article, Trudeau has not yet ruled out appealing the court’s decision, and “is maintaining that it will get built.”
“The fact that [the federal government] is pushing the Trans Mountain Pipeline through […] shows us that they haven’t changed their ways,” explained Nicolas Chevalier, one of the founding activists of the non-hierarchical organization Leap Montreal. “They don’t understand what it means to be in a climate crisis.”
“I think the Kinder Morgan Pipeline is totally retrogressive,” said Carole, a protester. There are three things Trudeau has shown us by spearheading this project, she explained: “He has broken his primary election promise, he has ignored consensus, and he is going backwards – just like Mr. Trump.”
Rise for Climate was attended by people from all walks of life: activists from various backgrounds, patrons, both young and old, families with children—all united as a community trying to salvage this planet we call home.
“The same system (capitalism) that drives climate change is the same system that drives inequality,” said Bianca Mugyenyi, a member of Leap Montreal. “At the end of the day, we want to do more than just avoid catastrophic climate change,” she said. “We want better lives.”
But the window for avoiding catastrophic climate change is quickly closing; we are and will continue to experience the effects of rising global temperatures throughout our lifetimes, albeit with regional variances. During a press conference on March 29, Amina J. Mohammed, secretary-general of the United Nations, explained that, unless accelerated action against climate change is adopted by 2020, the 2016 Paris Agreement goals will become unattainable. According to the 350 Canada website, 97 per cent of scientists agree that climate change is caused by human greenhouse gas emission. “So then why do our politicians keep making the wrong decisions?” asked Mugyenyi. “They’re moving in the wrong direction.”
Bea Dimaculangan spoke about how climate change disproportionately affects marginalized communities. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
Capitalism benefits from the existence of systemic oppression: from racism, from sexism, from violence against Indigenous communities. Capitalism is rooted in the mass exploitation of resources, and exponentially increasing profit margins somehow justifies the further exploitation of those resources and the political violence directed to already marginalized communities.
“Indigenous women and girls are three times more likely to experience violence, and six times more likely to be murdered than non-Indigenous women,” said Beatrice Dimaculangan, an activist, rapper and community organizer with RB4SJ.
“When Indigenous girls are trafficked into sex trade […] where is left for these girls to turn to when the very system meant to protect them proceeds to exploit and neglect them?” Dimaculangan held back tears as the power of her voice kept the crowd locked in to her every word. “These women are not solely victims of violence, but also of a justice system that doesn’t seem to give a shit about them.”
We have a responsibility—as Canadians, as allies, as human beings—to speak up. Not after the next major environmental catastrophe; not after coastal cities are completely underwater; not after the next oil spill wreaks havoc on another Indigenous community. The time for change is now. “The science is indisputable,” said Mugyenyi. “Enough is enough.”
Nagata; Waridel; Lukcas; Barney; Solomon Wood; Callison; and De Souza. Photo by Elisa Barbier.
Journalists analyze how the media talks about climate change at McGill University
Canadian social activists gathered at McGill University on Thursday evening to discuss how climate change is reported on in the Canadian media and whether the coverage is effective. The six guests, who all work in the media, answered questions from the audience.
The panelists included Candis Callison, a media professor at the University of British Columbia; Mike De Souza, the managing editor at the National Observer; Martin Lukacs, an investigative journalist for The Guardian; Kai Nagata, the communications director at Dogwood Initiative; Laure Waridel, the executive director of CIRODD, and Linda Solomon Wood, editor-in-chief of the National Observer.
To introduce the evening’s discussion, moderator Darin Barney explained how every day last year, half a million solar panels were installed, putting emphasis on the shift to renewable energies worldwide. However, Barney added, 80 per cent of global energy consumption still remains in fossil fuels, according to NASA.
A McGill graduate student opened the floor for questions by asking if the success of the media in conveying the message of climate change could be measured and how Canada is doing in such measure. Callison pointed out that it’s hard to find a way to measure it because, “for many, climate change is a background issue.”
“We have failed. Despite the knowledge and numbers, we fail to communicate,” Waridel added.
The following question was directed at De Souza and inquired about the responsibility of journalists to communicate information about climate change.
Audience members in the Frank Adams Auditorium on McGill University. Photo by Elisa Barbier.
“We have huge responsibilities,” De Souza replied. “It is a two-way street, both the media and the public. Journalists have covered climate change in Canada extensively.” However, he added that many investigate stories on climate change cannot be done due to the budget cuts news corporations are faced with.
Solomon Wood answered a question concerning the need for journalists as professionals, explaining that new types of media are bringing news to the public from new and diversified perspectives in a way that traditional media outlets are not able to. However, she said, “We still need people to dig into stories that some may not care [about].”
It was pointed out by Waridel that the traditional way of reporting on climate change in media leads to a current stagnant situation where “nobody wants to feel like the bad guy.’’ Therefore, calling out companies and people who have had a negative impact on climate is complex. Nagata added that presenting one clear message to the public is a difficult task—different people have different news sources, and often stick to the ones that reinforce their ideas about climate change, whether they’re accurate or not.
Waridel also defined climate change as “a dysfunction of the economy.” She said that, because many of us define ourselves by what we consume, “we need to be aware of what goes against climate change and switch it. It will not change if the citizens are not pushing for a change.”
“We are hoping that there is this leader that will save us,” she said. “[But] we all need to take action.”
Minister Marc Garneau listens to Montrealers concerns. Photo by Nelly Serandour-Amar.
Minister Marc Garneau meets with Montrealers to talk about the environment
Transport Minister Marc Garneau discussed climate change, while Montreal citizens voiced their concerns, at the Loyola chapel on Sept. 15. The conference started with a quick presentation regarding the federal government’s goals to prevent climate change from worsening.
“It is clear that it is a subject very dear to Canadians,” said Garneau. “Last December, our Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment were very much involved at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris,” said Garneau, adding that it was at that moment “Canada took a serious engagement towards greenhouse gases.”
Minister Marc Garneau listens to Montrealers concerns. Photo by Nelly Serandour-Amar.
During the UN conference, according to The Globe and Mail, Canada had pledged to, by 2030, cut its emissions by 30 per cent from 2005 levels. Emission reduction goals set by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol were not met. On an international level, developed countries committed to spend at least $100 billion a year between 2020 and 2025 to help emerging economies deal with the effects of climate change. Finally, all countries were urged to save their remaining intact forests and leave fossil fuels in the ground.
Given that climate change is one of the greatest challenges humans face, Garneau said the Liberal government believes it’s time to build a strong, clean and sustainable economy for the sake of Canadians and the environment. According to the official Canadian government’s website on climate change, the country’s temperature has warmed up by 1.6 celsius in the last 50 years—double the global average—causing more extreme weather patterns and increasing snowfall in the northwest arctic, which puts many Canadians and indigenous communities at risk.
Garneau emphasized that taking on this challenge of creating a greener economy will require help from the entire Montreal community and the rest of Canada. He then presented Canada’s plan for dealing with climate change:
Mitigation: How and where will we reduce these emissions?
Innovation: Seeking ideas for new technologies and jobs
Carbon pricing: A must-be-paid price for the right to emit the gas into the atmosphere
Adaptation and resilience: A plan to prepare for any impact that climate change will have on Canadians and the rest of the world
The minister also presented a chart that broke down Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions across sectors: Oil and Gas (26 per cent), Electricity (11 per cent), Transport (23 per cent), Energy-Intensive, Trade Exposed (EITE) industries (10 per cent), Buildings (12 per cent), Agriculture (10 per cent), and Waste and others (7 per cent).
As his presentation came to an end, Garneau asked a few questions to the audience. For example, he asked: “What measures can individuals and governments take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?” He also asked: “What are some ideas to promote innovation, new technologies and job creation aimed at reducing greenhouse gases?”
About 40 people stood up for their allotted two minutes to voice opinions and share their concerns. When Raphael Côté, a student from UQAM, took the microphone, he spoke about the pie chart breaking down Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.
He explained how the majority of greenhouse gas emissions, including electricity, oil, gas, transport, EITE, buildings and water all come to a total of 90 per cent of the gas emissions. “The only vital need [for greenhouse gases] is [in] agriculture,” Côté said. “Would you be ready to attack the industries responsible for producing these greenhouse gases?”
Garneau answered by saying the government is working with the UN to reduce activities of industries that produce greenhouse gases.
Garneau invited those who hadn’t had a chance to speak to email him questions and suggestions. Similarly, Shane Johnston, a volunteer from Vrai-Plan Climat, was also a part of the event. Vrai-Plan Climat is a non-profit organization developed after Trudeau’s government’s new national climate strategy for Canada came out. They work to ensure no one is being left behind in this government plan.
Vrai Plan Climat believes that the following three principles should be at the center of the strategy: They want a plan that aligns with the science of climate change, a plan that builds 100 per cent renewable energy economy and a plan that is justice-based.
On Thursday night, Johnston was collecting emails to stay connected with audience members, so the organization can plan different events related to implementing the three goals Vrai-Plan climat has for the government’s plan. She added that it is extremely important that the Montreal community works together at a time when the environment is so fragile.
Already the biggest demonstration for the climate, the People’s Climate March on Sunday rallied hundreds of thousands of citizens around the world including over 1,000 in Montreal.
Following up the Bill McKibben and Ellen Gabriel climate talk that took place in early September, Concordia students and representants of Concordia Student Union joined the march starting in La Fontaine Park on Sunday afternoon.
CSU representatives had been visiting Concordia’s classrooms for the two last weeks to try to get students out for the march and raise awareness about fossil fuel economy.
The vice-president for external affairs and mobilization explained the importance of getting involved in the climate change movement.
“The impact was more the collective showing up [of] different parts of civil society. We were happy to see students from Concordia and [to] be here in support of what is the largest crisis facing humanity, which is anthropogenic climate change,” Anthony Garoufalis-Auger said.
Banners reminded the public of the the main concern of Canadian and Quebec environmentalists: the construction of pipelines and development of tar sands.
“We want the government to be fiercely opposed to the Energy East pipeline project,” Isabelle St-Germain, deputy director of Équiterre, said.
“While Quebec has an ambitious climate plan that brought down greenhouse gas emissions to 15 per cent since the ‘90s, emissions went up to 15 per cent in the whole of Canada because of tar sands.”
The march was set up to precede the UN Climate Summit this week in New York on Sept. 23 — a summit which Prime Minister Stephen Harper will not attend.
“It is very much in line with his current policy of just expanding the tar sands. Stephen Harper is clearly not on the side of the scientific community on climate change but on the side of the fossil fuel industries which want to continue these extraction projects,” Garoufalis-Auger said.
While some think capitalism can’t mix with the environment — which is the subject behind Naomi Klein’s latest book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate — the coordinator of the People’s Climate March in Montreal was optimistic. “Economy and ecology go together hand by hand,” Jenny Loughran said. “We can invest in a greener future, in green technologies and this is going to benefit to the global economy, not just Canada.”
Volunteers organised the march in five weeks through the use of social media.
For Loughran, Montreal must be an example for the rest of the country. “As part of Canada, unfortunately, we have a terrible reputation when it comes to climate change,” she said. “So it was really important to make sure we are part of this movement.”
The organizations joining the march will continue organizing other protests against climate change in a near future. Earth Day in particular, held on April 22, will be the next big event — in 2012, it gathered 250,000 people in Montreal.
More about the People’s Climate March and pictures from all around the world on http://peoplesclimate.org.
CSU’s VP talks about the need for climate change and Naomi Klein’s visit
On Sept. 16, in preparation for the world’s largest climate change march, the Concordia Student Union (CSU) and partners will host a talk by author and social activist Naomi Klein on the challenges facing the fight against climate change.
Klein will be in town for the launch of her fourth book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. The event bringing this notorious Montrealer back home is not isolated but part of a much broader movement, of which the fight against climate change is the driving force. It also comes right before the Sept. 21 People’s Climate March in New York City (to which Concordia will send a delegation) and the concurrent Montreal march the CSU will participate in.
“The impact of human activity on the climate is undeniable, and we need to take action in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change,” explained the CSU’s VP External and Mobilization Anthony Garoufalis-Auger on Klein’s visit and the march.
The fight, he said, is not an easy one. The large transnational corporations involved are not inclined to change the way they maximize profit, so they fight back on three fronts: through academia, via the mass media, and by politics.
In the academic realm, there is an overwhelming consensus that human activity is increasing global temperature. There is a small group of scientists fighting man-made climate change by writing papers that are usually not peer reviewed. These authors, he explained, are often funded by the same actors that support major political groups, particularly the right-wing parties of both the United States and Canada.
And that takes us to the second front: politics. “Unfortunately,” continued Garoufalis-Auger, “major parties, from the Conservatives to the New Democrats, don’t seem to care about the effects of human activity on the climate. They all share the same main view that pipelines and fossil fuels are good for Canadian interest[s]. Our first-past-the-post electoral system prevents minor parties [from becoming] relevant.”
Climate change’s third front is the mass media. Younger people don’t watch as much TV as before, but have shifted their reliance to alternative news channels.
“Bringing awareness of climate change through alternative means such as organizing events like Klein’s book launch, is necessary since we can’t rely on mainstream sources to keep us properly informed,” he said.
Divestment: a valuable tool
Most of the universities in the United States and Canada hold assets of large corporations as part of their endowment funds. A big portion of these publicly traded corporations are related to the fossil fuel industry and other ecologically unsustainable business. This is why many student groups, like our very own Divest Concordia, have started to push for more responsible investment choices by pressuring universities to get rid of those assets and stop financing such corporations. They play on the term “divestment,” which is the opposite of investment ̶ so while buying shares from a company in order to obtain a return is an investment, divestment is the process of selling those assets. Economic profit is not the main goal of divestment, but rather to increase public awareness of the unsustainable policies of corporations.
“The goal behind divestment is not to financially bankrupt the fossil fuel industry, but to bankrupt their public image, and bring the issue to the public’s attention,” concluded Garoufalis-Auger.
Naomi Klein’s book launch is happening on Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 7:00pm at the Imperial Theater on 1430 Bleury street. Tickets are free and can be picked up at both H-711 of the Hall Building (1455 de Maisonneuve West) and the Loyola SC-115 Campus Center at 141 Sherbrooke West.
