“No one is going to die,” Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said at the entrance to the Ministerial Council on Wednesday, referring to companies that exceed pollution standards.
It was a phrase that said so much about Fitzgibbon and Legault’s pro-business stance. First businesses, then citizens.
An attitude that is scrutinized every day during the election campaign.
let it be
“Laissez faire” is the watchword of Legault and his government, Fitzgibbon first.
Ripoux landlords evict tenants through fraudulent ‘renovations’? Let it be.
Are the big oil companies unjustifiably charging higher prices at the pump in Quebec than in Ontario? Let it be.
Are companies exceeding emission standards and endangering the health of citizens? Let it be.
Do the mining companies also want to get the graphite from the biodiversity reserves? Let it be.
health and environment
Public health has already established that the excesses tolerated at the Horne foundry in Rouyn-Noranda have been linked, among other things, to an increase in lung cancer.
You tried to hide the information!
Fitzgibbon knows absolutely nothing about health, and that’s what his guarantees that “nobody’s going to die” are worth: absolutely nothing.
Recall that in 2006 the National Assembly unanimously approved the Sustainable Development Act, which amended the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Liberties to add a new article that reads:
“46.1. Everyone has the right to live in a healthy environment that respects biodiversity, to the extent and according to the standards provided for by law. »
Let’s say it proudly, Quebec is one of the rare jurisdictions to have enshrined the right to live in a healthy environment in a quasi-constitutional charter.
Since its passage, this article has enabled fine jurisdiction that helps protect the closely linked environment and health.
Legault and the Charter
François Legault is not a big fan of the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
In fact, when passing a controversial law (e.g. Bill 21 or Bill 96), it resorts to the so-called disregard clause and sweeps aside the rights normally guaranteed by that charter. It’s a strong trend with him.
Here Legault did not use the regardless clause.
He and his government are simply failing to enforce the existing standards to ensure a healthy environment to which the public is entitled.
The result is the same. The right to life and the right to a healthy environment are violated.
The Quebec Charter was once a source of pride. It was adopted under Bourassa and, after a series of amendments, René Lévesque sent a copy to every Quebec residence a few years later.
It is his signature that is found on the most widely distributed printed version.
There is no danger that François Legault will in turn send a copy to all the cottages, because for him the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms is an obstacle to be overcome, not national pride.
