Bill 66: the fight for the
environment continues
The Green Coalition and Tommy Montpetit say NO to Bill 66
Montreal, Quebec, September 26, 2020
The Green Coalition and Tommy Montpetit deplore and condemn the replacement of the defunct Bill 61 with the new Bill 66 which circumvents our environmental protection regulations.
The Quebec government believes that by circumventing these regulations, the province will be better off. This is completely false. It is not by reducing our environmental protection, which is already clearly insufficient, that real progress will be made.
The emasculation of the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) is one of the perverse effects of this bill. This bill contains the same errors as the previous bill.
We are living through a global crisis of biodiversity loss and we are still considering, in Quebec, continuing to destroy the few natural environments we have left.
No, Mr. Premier! Health and the environment must be paramount now, not secondary!
The new Bill 66 in no way addresses the real problem of the degradation of natural environments and the disappearance of species at risk in Quebec. Worse yet, the destruction that has been known and endorsed by the Ministry of the Environment and the Lutte contre les changements climatiques (MELCC) for years has been made legal and monetized or, even worse, exchanged for future compensation through the recreation of wetlands.
As mentioned in the the People’s manifesto for the defense of Quebec’s environment recently published by the Green Coalition, the under-staffing and lack of succession in the ministries responsible for protecting the environment are much more glaring problems that must be raised immediately. Otherwise, who will be responsible for monitoring, analyzing and following up on all these projects that destroy natural environments?
It is unacceptable that in 2020 citizens will still be forced to explain to the government that natural, wet and wooded environments cannot be destroyed, especially in southern Quebec. We are living through a global crisis of biodiversity loss and we are still considering, in Quebec, continuing to destroy the few natural environments we have left.
We call on all citizens and political parties to commit to fighting for a major reflection on what we really want for the post-pandemic period. A few projects chosen by the government or a greater reflection on the future of biodiversity?
‘We call on all citizens and political parties to commit to fighting for a major reflection on what we really want for the post-pandemic period. ‘
It’s up to all of us to roll up our sleeves, it’s a big job!
We invite you to sign the Manifesto created by Tommy Montpetit on change.org
For more information, contact Patrick Barnard at 514 463-0573 or pbarnard@videotron.ca
The Green Coalition and Tommy Montpetit
Feature image: Skitterphoto
Read other articles about the environment
The Green Coalition is a non-profit association of groups and individuals with a mandate to promote the conservation, protection and restoration of the environment and the wise use of green and blue spaces.
Tommy Montpetit is a strong advocate of wetlands and the chorus frog.
This message from Tommy Montpetit and the Green Coalition is a timely warning. The Quebec government must not degrade the environment through the pretence that it is advancing the economy. Those priorities should be reversed: health and the environment come first as leading features of a restored economy in Quebec and Canada.
Our greatest challenge is in changing a human condition that dictates that more is better. and that economic growth is the bedrock on which our culture survives. The public is constantly told of the need to create jobs but rarely told of the true costs of these initiatives. We are driven by our conditioning and not concerned by secondary effects such as Climate Change, Mad Cow Disease, pandemics etc…
Time has come for us to look beyond the yellow brick road and recognize that there is a cost to everything and in many cases a hidden cost that far outreaches any short-term benefits.
Georges
Without a healthy environment there is nothing!
Preserve biodiversity…. we must save the wet lands, with all it’s flora and fauna.
It is a matter of survival for us all.