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Canadian Environment Awards
The Community Awards 2008
Environmental Learning
• André Bélisle
• Club agroenvironnemental du bassin la guerre
• Établissements verts brundtland
ANDRÉ BÉLISLE
Clean-air and climate-change activist
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| PHOTO: NANCY BOUCHARD |
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More than 25 years ago, André Bélisle’s work
as a forester gave him a first-hand look at the devastating
effects of acid rain on Quebec’s northern lakes. It left an
impression he could not shake, and in 1982, Bélisle co-founded
the Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution
atmosphérique (AQLPA), becoming a fulltime environmentalist
and activist. In his action-packed career, Bélisle has used
public education and political advocacy to spur citizens, industries
and governments to environmental action. “Education is the
key to change,” he says. “You need to understand the
fundamental cause of the problem before you can explore environmental
alternatives.”
In its infancy, AQLPA focused on atmospheric
pollution. Early victories include the Acid Rain Caravan, which
carried AQLPA’s message to 75 Quebec municipalities in 1984
and inspired the federal government to pass legislation that would
reduce sulphur dioxide emissions by at least 50 percent.
Since its
inception, AQLPA has worked boldly to stay at the forefront of developing
issues, shifting its focus to climate change over the past two decades.
In 2003, Bélisle served as the spokesperson for the Québec-vert-Kyoto
Coalition, representing a collection of 56 groups of environmentalists,
professionals, students and unions that pushed for the ratification
of the Kyoto Protocol and opposed Quebec’s move toward gas-fired
thermal power. An unprecedented gathering of 7,000 people in Montréal
to protest the planned Suroît generating station was a prelude
to the coalition’s resounding victory when the project was
cancelled in 2004.
Last year, Bélisle won a two-year lawsuit
initiated by an automobile-scrap business in Lévis, Que.,
faulting AQLPA for activism that forced the company to comply with
environmental standards. As a result, Bélisle has launched
an antiSLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) campaign
to ensure that environmental groups and regular citizens can act
as stewards of the environment without being victimized by spurious
lawsuits. If Bélisle is successful once again, Quebec will
be the only province in Canada to currently have anti-SLAPP legislation. “After
everything I have been through — the challenges and successes — I
remain optimistic about what humanity can accomplish,” says
Bélisle, “but impatient with the slow progress and
lack of will.”
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CLUB AGROENVIRONNEMENTAL DU BASSIN LA GUERRE
Council for the promotion and development of sustainable agriculture
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| PHOTO: CLUB AGROENVIRONNEMENTAL DU BASSIN LA GUERRE |
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The long, proud history of Quebec farming is a defining
feature of the province’s culture, society and economy. Today, that
definition is expanding to encompass the concerns of ordinary
citizens whose demands for safe agricultural practices have become
an environmental cause célèbre. Leading the response
is the Club agroenvironnemental du bassin La Guerre, a group of
farmers who have voluntarily researched and adopted sustainable
practices to protect their watershed from agricultural runoff and
sediments.
The region, about an hour’s drive south of Montréal,
has for decades faced frequent threats of flooding as a result of
the 1932 hydro dam constructed at the tail end of lac Saint-François,
part of the St. Lawrence River system. The dam elevated the lake’s
natural level by nearly one metre and, combined with dredging
of the riverbed for shipping, led to frequent flooding in the
surrounding area, carrying agricultural runoff with it. As an
interim step, the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Food added pumps in 1974 to drain off excess water. While the
system prevented flooding, it led to turbidity in the lake, a
major concern for cottage owners.
Environmentally minded local farmers decided to deal with the problem
at its source. Hiring agronomic consultant Sylvie Thibaudeau in
1996, they began to implement a sustainable-agriculture model. “We
have since drastically changed our methods,” says club president
Urgel Carrière. “We use fewer chemical fertilizers,
and we no longer plow our fields twice a year.” Manure
is introduced selectively during the growing season. Harvest debris
remains on the field as a cover throughout the winter, acting
as compost and reducing the amount of agricultural runoff into the
river. Secondary cover crops, such as radish and mustard, are planted
to protect the soil against wind and water erosion.
In the decade
since the farmers implemented sustainable practices, the results
have been stunning. In 2007, a survey indicated that the regional
watershed had shown a reduction of 42 percent in phosphorus, 34
percent in sediments and 29 percent in nitrates. At an “Open
Watershed” day in September 2007, group members held a workshop
to spread the word about their methods to visiting farmers.
“This
is by far the best improvement in watershed quality in any agricultural
region ever in Quebec,” concludes Thibaudeau. “And
it would not have been possible without the farmers’ commitment
to learn and implement new farming practices.”
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ÉTABLISSEMENTS VERTS BRUNDTLAND
Education for a sustainable future
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| PHOTO: ST-DONAT DE MARIA
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In 1983, the United Nations convened the World Commission on Environment
and Development, commonly known as the Brundtland Commission, for
its chair, Gro Harlem Brundtland. The commission’s 1987 report, “Our
Common Future,” is considered a milestone in contemporary
environmentalism because it awakened the world to the idea of sustainable
development.
The document also inspired the creation of Établissements
verts Brundtland (EVB), and as green schools began to pop up across
the province, education in Quebec was changed forever. “The
report used the word ‘education’ more than 600 times,” says
Alain Pélissier, secretarytreasurer for the Centrale des
syndicats du Québec, the union representing the educators
in Quebec who founded EVB. “We were inspired to create a program
that would recognize schools that were taking steps toward sustainable
development.”
In 1993, EVB boasted 80 certified schools,
but today, that list has multiplied to include more than 1,100 institutional
members, among them daycare centres and elementary, secondary and
post-secondary schools. One of Quebec’s financial institutions
is now also on the list. A growing number of schools in Africa and
Haiti have EVB programs as well. “We are frequently cited
in unesco’s reports as a model to follow,” says Pélissier. “As
a result, there are more people across Canada and the world interested
in our program.”
To earn status as a Brundtland establishment,
an institution must complete two projects that reflect each of the
four core values: ecology, peace, solidarity and democracy. Over
the past 15 years, EVB has developed tools, activities and curricula
for students from primary to post-secondary that incorporate all
four. “Our teaching tools are one of our greatest successes,” says
Pélissier. “Now we’re seeing our graduates integrate
what they have learned from us into their careers as politicians
and lawyers and their lives as private citizens.”
Emerging
and ongoing projects in Quebec’s green schools range from
reducing paper consumption and composting cafeteria scraps to restoring
riparian habitats and collecting clothing for those in need. “We
rely on our incredible network of partners — Oxfam-Québec,
UNICEF, Club 2/3 and ENvironnement JEUnesse, to name a few — for
curricula and activity development,” says Pélissier. “I’ve
been involved with EVB from the beginning. What keeps our program
going is seeing our young people fully engaged and committed to
making this a better world.”
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