Dear Mr. Legault. On April 2, it will be a year since we, Mothers at the front, take turns in front of your Montreal office every Sunday to ask your government to listen to science and respond urgently to the climate, biodiversity and human health. For our anniversary, will you come and chat with us?
Every Sunday, we left brunches, quiet coffees and craft sessions behind. Each Sunday, we let go of our personal priorities to collectively focus on what should be everyone’s priority, including yours, as Prime Minister: the absolute necessity of protecting our environment and the future of our children.
We have been through four seasons. We came with our babies and our teenagers, our parents and our girlfriends and friends. We sang, danced, drew hopscotch. We shared our anxieties and our hopes, we rallied passers-by.
Dozens of Frontline Mothers and their families from across Quebec came to support us, as well as many citizen groups, including For Our Kids, FRAPRU, Mobilization 6600 and several student groups. In all, nearly 700 adults and 200 children. We have attracted the attention of the media: La Presse, Le Journal de Québec, TVA Nouvelles, L’Itinéraire, RAD de Radio-Canada.
We want to believe that mobilization pays off when the cause is just, altruistic and inclusive.
When we began our sit-ins in the spring of 2022, we had eight years to reduce our greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 65% to avoid the worst. On April 2, 2023, there will be only seven years left and, according to the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the window is shrinking faster than expected. What is your plan to achieve this target which requires fundamental changes in all sectors of economic and governmental activity?
Over the past year, concrete and achievable solutions have been proposed to your government, such as improving active and public transportation to break dependence on solo cars, protecting wetlands, forests and urban woods, as well as the tightening of emission standards for polluting industries.
You met us, we Mothers at the front, on June 21, 2022, and you listened to our requests. Among these, we asked you to protect the health of the children of Rouyn-Noranda as well as the habitat of the woodland caribou. Did you hear us?
As moms, we know how quickly the years pass. We also know all the possible change. 4-year-old kindergarten, checks and tax cuts, yet another road link won’t do much for our children if we don’t leave them with a healthy environment that protects their health and safety and thrives. .
So Mr. Legault, will you come and have coffee and cookies with us on April 2 at noon in front of 770 Sherbrooke Street West? Aren’t you concerned, as we are, imagining the world we’ll leave to our children, if we don’t change course now?
We have 52 messages for you, for each of the weeks of our occupation in front of your offices. We would like to tell you about what is still possible. Out of love for our children, we want life to win.