Citizens March in Montreal over Climate Issues

Published on November 14, 2018

The Planet Goes to Parliament, a self-described citizen led movement, recently led a march in Montreal to draw awareness to climate change issues and their absence in the Quebec election campaign.

Thousands of people joined the march, including Quebec celebrities, politicians, and citizens, including a press release from Quebec’s Environment Minister MarieChantal Chassé saying she would attend the protest.

The movement The Planet Goes to Parliament was created on September 7th, and points to this past summer’s heat wave as a forecast of the effects that climate change will bring.

Montreal public health officials said the heat wave was responsible for up to 53 deaths in Quebec over the summer.

Attending the protest was McGill University student, Alexandra Yannoutsos, who said that the negative effects of climate change cannot be reversed, and that studies have shown the world is closing in on a point from which there will be no turning back.

“We really need to take action right now,” Yannoutsos said.

The Planet Goes to Parliament is asking for the Quebec government to create a climate change action plan, that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an amount sufficient enough to reach the targets set out by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Spokesperson for the movement, Nathalie Roy, said that the government has definitely heard the citizens’ voices regarding climate change issues.

“If the environment minister is here that’s clear recognition that they heard us,” said Roy.

The rally’s organizers have said it is the first of many to come.

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