Covid, Climate: The Same Battle | Montreal Magazine

We have repeated, to the point of nausea, since the beginning of this ordeal that we “must learn from the epidemic”.

Isn’t it the first lesson to be learned in the fight against climate change?

Imagine if, in the last ten years, Western governments had not cut public health spending …

Imagine, if pandemic plans were studied, tested, and updated …

Imagine, if an invisible, unknown, but extremely destructive virus threat was taken seriously …

Imagine if Canada had not given up its ability to manufacture drugs …

Last year wasn’t fun, but it definitely would have been less harmful to the economy, our mental health, and our children.

So the same logic should apply to climate change.

The question is whether the political class will dare to move forward.

This risk cannot be ignored

Ontario’s strict lockdown illustrates the danger of the flag being ignored for too long.

In February, science advisors to the Ford government spoke of the disaster now looming in the county.

But no, the citizens got tired, the government was trying to spare them.

why ? To go back to square one?

The same logic applies to climate.

Fifteen years ago, we did not count studies, reports, and surveys that clearly prove that our world is heading straight for the climate wall.

The economic devastation will be astronomical, coastal cities inundated, unmanageable migratory flows, and enormous costs for our health systems.

Climate change will change our lives and the lives of our grandchildren much more dramatically than a pandemic.

Yet for decades, governments have tried to spare us the hard choices.

Canadian political consensus?

In this context, we should welcome the Tory leader’s role in favor of “carbon pricing.” “

Beyond its plan’s shortcomings, it sends a signal that a certain consensus must be imposed in Canada on the urgency of tackling global warming.

However, to be taken seriously, Erin O’Toole will have to demonstrate that her green plan is not a mixture of short-sighted electoral midterm actions.

Because if it was 2^e And 3^e We learned something from the vague fact that the cost of half the procedures ends up being much higher than the decisive procedure.

In this regard, Monday’s budget will be a test of the Trudeau government’s credibility in this area.