Earth Day march draws thousands in Montreal

Thousands joined in the annual Montreal Earth Day march yesterday as the crowd made their way  from Place-des-Arts to its final destination at Place du Canada.

Quebec director for the David Suzuki Foundation, Karel Mayrand noted that a number of families and children came out in support. “They have this profound belief that the decisions they make today will actually build a future for their children,” he said.

The seven environmental groups in charge of organizing the event have made climate change the focus of this year’s Earth Day march. According to the CBC, Patrick Bonin, a campaigner for Greenpeace, said that this year’s march specifically targeted tar sands.

The seven groups have drafted a declaration demanding Quebec to strengthen greenhouse emissions standards, reduce petroleum use, and refuse oil from Alberta’s oilsands.

Of particular concern are attempts by Enbridge to have Line 9, which travels through southern Quebec, reversed.

Bonin said Quebec must refuse the pipelines because shipping oil to Eastern Canada would allow oilsands operations to expand, further increasing Canada’s greenhouse emissions.

Bonin estimates that by 2020, emissions from expanded tar sands operations would cancel out all the other efforts made across the country to combat climate change.

Flickr Photo by: LS Lam

STORY WRITTEN BY: SPOON JUNG