Quebec elections 2022 | Heavy rain seeps into the countryside

Environment the main issue of elections? This is what science is asking and what more and more citizens are hoping for, especially in a context where the effects of climate change are increasing in Quebec. Environment Department Should So he goes to interview residents to gauge how their vote is affected by environmental issues. Today: Climate change adaptation.

When heavy rain hit Montreal and the metropolitan area on Tuesday, September 13th, Alice Dufour Soraya didn’t have much time to respond. “It happened within 20 minutes. I was having dinner and I heard a strange sound coming from downstairs,” said the owner of a shoebox-type home on Wurtele Street, in Ville Marie. The water started rising very quickly. She was entering through the windows and doors at breakneck speed. It was very scary. »

In the next minutes, Alice Dufour Thériault calls 911 and ends up speaking to a worker who promises to send an emergency team to the scene. But that will never come. “At the time, I felt like 911 had deserted me. Then, I felt like the city had deserted me, which lobbied politically on this with the mayors asking the government for a green deal,” she-he says. The next day, the value of our house increased by $200,000. [avec le nouveau rôle foncier]. »

311 that was taken by storm

The deluge caused more than 50 millimeters of water to fall on Montreal within two hours, which is equal to the amount of rain the city usually receives in a month. Several arteries in the city were flooded and water leaked to the Victoria Square-Oasis metro station. Between 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., 1,400 calls were received at 311 regarding heavy rain and flooded basements. At Longueuil, 311 were stormed with 2,622 requests for help. Other cities, including Juliet and Repentini, suffered from the wrath of Mother Nature. The Red Cross had to assist 34 families in the aftermath of these floods.

Last Tuesday, a few hours after the mayors of ten major cities called on the regional campaign parties to support cities in adapting their infrastructure to climate change, the council’s president, François Legault, passed into Montreal City Hall, serving them an end to inadmissibility. preferred to rely on A plan for the green economy, a program focused on combating greenhouse gas emissions. He also referred to the OASIS program aimed at greening and combating urban heat islands.

After he left City Hall, nature became unruly. The topic of adapting to climate change had just made an interesting entry in the election campaign.

More frequent extreme events

Matthew Prevost, a renter in a Montgomery Street condo, in central Sud, saw his basement flooded last Tuesday. His roommates, whose room was in the basement, had to temporarily move elsewhere. Until then, climate change had not emerged for him as a major theme in the current election campaign. If you ask me on Monday [12 septembre] If this issue were important in the context of the election campaign, I would say no. But now, definitely yes. It’s something you don’t realize until you step in yourself. »

According to him, the parties must act now because the effects of climate change could be significant within 10-15 years. Extreme events, such as heat waves and heavy rain, are more likely to occur frequently. “I think it is important to get to the heart of the problem.”

Alain Vaillancourt, who is responsible for public security at the City of Montreal Executive Committee, notes that the city has a budget of $314 million over ten years to make infrastructures more resilient with, among other things, improvements to the water system, construction of drainage of overhanging sidewalks and other capable facilities. to absorb rainwater. But it will take more money. That’s why the mayor has demanded $2 billion annually in the Green Charter. This green charter is a necessity. These events will be more frequent. He said.

Alice Dufour-Terault believes that municipal authorities and governments should do more to make the city more resilient. “We’re in a highly mineralized area. It’s a notorious heat island. We planted the land in front of our house. I do what I can to get the rainwater to run off and into the green lane, but we have a lot of problems with that. There’s no will.”

Moreover, the driveway bounding his house may have been called a “green driveway,” and it is entirely asphalted, except for a narrow border planted with flowers. And during last Tuesday’s flood, a foot of water accumulated there, according to Ms. Dufour Tyrault.

Emmanuel Rondia, Director-General of the Regional Environment Council (CRE) in Montreal also believes that the Quebec government must do its part in terms of climate change adaptation, greening, and the fight against heat islands.

In particular, it is proposed that a 1% share of Quebec City’s infrastructure project budgets be allocated to adaptation and stormwater management projects. “It will ensure that there is funding for green infrastructure projects,” he adds.

He adds that in the Montreal region, Quebec could fund the Community Montreal Metropolitan Community’s Green and Blue Network (CMM) program in order to allow cities to have green spaces. The government must also be exemplary in terms of rainwater management and greening in all infrastructure projects, whether for schools, hospitals or road repairs, for example.

Let’s see in the video