PQ wants businesses to go green, more environmental inspectors
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 | 7:34 PM ET
CBC News
PQ Leader Pauline Marois talks with elementary school students during a campaign stop in Terrebonne, Que. Marois said the PQ is Quebec's greenest party. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)PQ Leader Pauline Marois was all about the environment Tuesday as she unveiled her party's green platform, promising to hire more inspectors, revamp building codes and clamp down on wood-burning stove use.
Marois listed her party's environmental promises while campaigning in the Montreal riding of l'Assomption, where former Green party leader Scott McKay is now running for the PQ.
A Parti Québécois government would force businesses to modernize their technology to reduce waste, and would overhaul Quebec's building codes to standardize more efficient energy standards.
Marois also promised to hire 40 more environmental inspectors at an annual cost of $2.5 million.
The PQ would also do more to protect green spaces across the province.
Marois also appealed to Green party supporters, asking them to consider the PQ, given that their former leader has switched allegiances.
The PQ is Quebec's greenest option, McKay said. "We will adopt norms that will be more stringent, because we think it's important to do that, and to change our habits, because if we don't do that, we will not [reduce] smog."
A PQ government would also impose stricter guidelines on how people use wood-burning stoves, but stopped short of promising a full-out ban similar to the one adopted last week by the town of Hampstead on the island of Montreal.
