Thousands March the Streets of Montreal for Climate and Social Justice

15 thousands Montrealers took to the streets to protest climate inaction by the provincial government and to apply pressure on provincial parties to take climate action ahead of the October 3 provincial election in Quebec.

Montreal youth led the protest, starting from George Etienne monument in the Plateau – marching to Peel park in downtown Montreal. Speakers discussed capitalism and its contribution to climate disaster. Speakers' cited the recent flooding in Pakistan, forest fires in the west coast and heat waves in Europe over this past summer as examples of dangerous climate change. It was also noted that the current global temperature is 1.2ºC and that if action is not taken we will surpass 1.5ºC and even reach a global temperature of 4ºC – putting us in the zone of dangerous climate change. Studies suggest we will reach 1.5ºC by 2030. 

March organizers demanded for Montreal and Quebec to end fossil fuel use by 2030. Currently, the City of Montreal has plans to become carbon neutral by 2050 and reduce emissions by 55% by 2030. 

Party members from the provincial party La Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) attended the protest, but were met with boos by participants for their lack of solid climate policy, causing them to leave before participants began marching.

Many protesters donned signs mocking the provincial party, with one protester even tearing down signs of representatives of la CAQ posted along the streets for the upcoming provincial election. 

Montreal students were not the only ones on strike, across the province – more than 100 thousand students, more than 50 thousand workers and hundreds of community organizations were on strike.