Earth Day Protests Demand End to Corporate Stranglehold Over Natural and Social Environment
Quebec
City, Earth Day
2023
On the occasion of Earth Day 2024, the Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec (PMLQ) salutes the young people and workers of Quebec and those of Canada as well as Indigenous Peoples who, with people around the world, fight to restrict and deprive monopolies and oligopolies, along with the governments in their service, of their ability to pollute, destroy, wage war, exploit, criminalize and deprive people of their right to have a say in all matters that affect their lives.
The slogans of the various actions being held are unequivocal: The Planet is Not for Sale and Neither Are the Unceded Territories! is the theme of the march in Montreal. Organizers state, "The CAQ's idea of an 'energy transition' is privatizing electricity, building mega battery plants and throwing ourselves headfirst into hydrogen. It's selling off water, electricity and land for cheap, throwing the door wide open to foreign companies that are already exploiting the global south, against the will of local communities. We will not allow this."
In Sherbrooke, the organizers of the march underline: "The frantic race for profits is leading us straight towards the precipice. We cannot leave our future in the hands of the elites. Together we can create a fairer and more environmentally friendly society. A society without exploitation that can act now to resolve the crises affecting humanity. For the sake of humans and ecosystems, let's fight for this society today!"
Quebec City's action goes in the same direction: Climate Emergency! Social Emergency!
Caring for Mother Earth is a priority; opposing government schemes to pay the rich is a necessity. Collective experience has taught us that no matter which government is in power and what commitments it says it is making to protect the environment, as long as these are subject to private interests, the exploitation of natural resources serves the rich and not the common interest of the people. The most recent example in Quebec is the impunity with which the Legault government offers, on a silver platter, 171 hectares (1.71 square kilometres) of land, including 52 hectares of wetlands and possibly 70 hectares of agricultural land, to the Swedish multinational company Northvolt so that it can install its battery mega-factory there. This is despite the very broad opposition of citizens, scientists, environmentalists, environmental defense organizations and many others to this project.
The Legault government may say that Quebeckers do not understand the importance of such a project, the reality is quite different. In fact, it is because they do understand that this sell-off of their natural resources is subsidized and that it will serve the war machine of the United States, which thirsts for the lithium-ion battery that Northvolt will manufacture. Military industry and war are a leading cause of environmental destruction and global warming.
Governments are using the climate crisis that they themselves helped create to put in place measures to so-called "deal with climate emergencies" which are ultimately pay-the-rich schemes. A government serving narrow private interests cannot protect the natural environment and human beings.
On this Earth Day 2024, we must hold accountable those who use their power to destroy the natural and social environment and find new political arrangements where the future of Mother Earth will rest in the hands of those who put themselves in the service of her protection and the human beings who live and work here. These new arrangements require the renewal of the political process so that the people are vested with power to decide all economic, political and social issues, and control the direction of the economy so that it serves the well-being of society and humanizes the natural and social environment.
This article was published in
Volume 54
Number 27 - April 20 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54272.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca