The first-ever Climate Week festival is set to begin Tuesday with climate advocates saying they hope to put environmental issues on the public agenda as the election campaign is in full swing.
The six-day event will bring together residents, organizations and advocates on conversations about climate change as Quebecers are set to vote on Oct. 5.
“The first thing we want to see is actually the leaders talking about the environment,” said Juliette Champoux-Pellegrin, co-founder & director, Montréal Climate Week.
“I think that’s something that’s been missing from the debate so far.”
The conference comes after Canada recorded nearly 5,000 fires destroying 4.1 million hectares burned as of mid-August, according to data from the federal government.
The city also saw several flash flooding incidents including in St-Léonard and Dollard des-Ormeaux following intense rains.
“It’s so important, especially as we have just witnessed an entire summer of forest fires, extreme heat, devastating extreme events. And so bringing it up is the first step,” Champoux-Pellegrin said.
Several Montrealers told CityNews that they have experienced the effects of extreme weather.
“Where we live, the weather has definitely changed and we’ve had definitely some radical amount of water and thunderstorms in which we suffered,” said one Montrealer. “We lost electricity for long periods of time, like two, three days or even up to a week because of the change in the weather.”
“The last few years I’ve seen how the weather changes from year to year,” said another. “The winters are colder the summers are hotter. The wildfires, I know that generally it’s been going on for like years and years and years, but I feel like it’s getting worse.”
Some said they would like to see the elected officials act.
“I would like to hear that there’s financing of projects related like global warming or to and climate change,” said one voter. “I feel like it’s something very important and I feel like it’s not really a choice.”
“It’s going to be a tricky subject for them to approach,” another Montrealer. “I don’t envy their position to take, but they should at least start talking about it.”
Festival goers will have access to more than 125 events across the city, with most being free and in both French and English.
From conferences to workshops, family-friendly outings, to panels and screenings, Montrealers will have an opportunity to learn, exchange ideas and even take action, organizers say.
“The entire thinking behind that is to bring people across sectors, across domains,” Champoux-Pellegrin said. “You don’t have to be a climate expert to be part of it. It’s really meant to be inclusive, accessible, interesting, fun even.”
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