Articles Menu
Quebec's youth sue the Government of Canada for its inaction on climate change - more details
26/11/18
Link:
Nov 26, 2018
MONTRÉAL, Nov. 26, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - ENvironnement JEUnesse, represented by the firm Trudel Johnston & Lespérance, filed an application for authorization to bring a class action against the Canadian government before the Superior Court of Québec today on behalf of Quebeckers aged 35 and under. ENvironnement JEUnesse alleges that the Canadian government is infringing on a generation's fundamental rights. It is interfering with young people's rights because its greenhouse gas reduction target is not ambitious enough to avoid dangerous climate change and because it does not even have a plan that would allow it to reach this already inadequate target. If the government continues in this direction, people under 35 will suffer the severe consequences of climate change, thus depriving them of their right their right to life and security of the person, to their right to equality, and to their right to an environment in which biodiversity is preserved.
"Climate change is real and we are already feeling its consequences. Despite the abundance of scientific studies pointing in the same direction, the Canadian government is failing in its duty to take action against climate change. Instead of accelerating a green transition, Canada is subsidizing oil companies and purchasing a pipeline in our name," says Catherine Gauthier, Executive Director of ENvironnement JEUnesse, which is taking legal action on behalf of young people aged 35 and under in Quebec. The young spokesperson adds: "We demand that our rights and those of future generations be protected and respected. We demand that Canada act without delay to avoid dangerous global warming, above 1.5oC, as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change."
As Bruce Johnston, a partner at TJL, explains, "the Canadian government's behaviour infringes on several fundamental rights protected by the Canadian and Quebec charters." As such, young people have the right to demand that the government take the necessary measures to ensure that the infringement ceases. "We believe that we have a solid legal case that deserves to be brought before the courts," he says.
A global movement
Several similar proceedings have been instituted around the world, notably in the Netherlands, where the government was forced to adopt a concrete plan to reach its climate target. The Dutch government is legally bound to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. Similar legal actions are ongoing in the United States, Belgium, Norway, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, Colombia and the United Kingdom.
The press kit is available at www.enjeu.qc.ca/justice.
SOURCE ENvironnement JEUnesse
For further information: Christophe Aura, 514.797.7986
