A coalition of Quebec environment groups wants campaigning politicians to put some muscle into their green policies.
The coalition of eight ecological groups censured Quebec's main political parties for ignoring what they call Quebecers' main preoccupation.
"The environment I think has been talked about one or two days in maybe 20, so I think that it doesn't reflect the priorities of the people," said André Ménard, who runs a Quebec waste diversion organization.
All the main political parties have made efforts to green their platform — the Parti Québécois went as far as changing its signature blue and red campaign colours to green — but none have impressed the coalition with any innovative or concrete ideas to tackle environmental problems.
Quebec suffers from a lack of political will at the national assembly, where the last government allotted just one per cent of its total budget to the environment ministry, the coalition said.
Increasing department spending to enforce current environment laws could go a long way to improving Quebec's record, it says.
"Hire inspectors. Do the work so that the water is cleaner, the air is cleaner," said André Bouthilier, president of Eau Secours, a water protection organization.
The coalition hopes the environment will play a prominent role in Tuesday's debate between the leaders.
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| Party | Elected | Leading | Total | Vote Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIB | 48 | 0 | 48 | 33.08% |
| ADQ | 41 | 0 | 41 | 30.80% |
| PQ | 36 | 0 | 36 | 28.32% |
| QS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.65% |
| GRN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.89% |
| OTH | 0 | 0 | 0 | .26% |
| Last Update:March 27, 12:52:21 AM EDT | ||||
Quebec Votes 2007 Headlines »
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- Quebec Premier Jean Charest said he'll build bridges with the Parti Québécois and the Action Démocratique du Québec to ensure a stable minority government.
- Dumont will work with Quebec Premier Charest
- Quebec's new Opposition Leader Mario Dumont said he wants stability at the national assembly and pledged to work with the Liberal minority government on a case-by-case basis.
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- André Boisclair is staying on as leader of the Parti Québécois and vowed to help rebuild the fractured party after it suffered major losses in Monday's provincial election.
- Quebec election result 'good news' for Canada: PM
- Stephen Harper says voters in the Quebec election have used their ballots to reject calls for another referendum in a "great result" for Canada.
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