Trade union federation joins fight to save three endangered woodlands

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One of Quebec’s largest union organizations is putting its social and political heft behind the struggles to save three threatened natural spaces on the island of Montreal; the Technoparc lands, Boisé Steinberg and Fairview Forest.

The Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) is the second-largest trade union federation in Quebec, with nearly 2,000 member unions. On Saturday, the CSN’s environmental committee conducted a bus tour of those three green spaces, bringing about 30 union members into the woods so they could get to know the areas that are threatened and speak to members of the environmental groups working to save them.

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“At a time when a certain amount of climate heating is sadly inevitable and when heat islands are becoming more strangling, getting rid of woods and wetlands in Montreal is quite simply unacceptable and incoherent,” said Yvan Duceppe, CSN treasurer and spokesperson on environmental issues. “We must preserve these three wooded areas.”

The union is demanding that the city of Montreal, the provincial and federal governments work together to protect these urban forests and wetlands. About 200 hectares of undeveloped lands in and near Montreal’s Technoparc area near the Trudeau International Airport are under constant threat of development. The nine-hectare Steinberg Woods in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve is threatened by the prolongation of Assomption Blvd. And the Fairview Forest is a 43-acre mature forest and wetland area in Pointe-Claire, which is threatened by a proposed condo, hotel and shopping centre development.

Arianne Carmel-Pelosse, vice-president of the CSN’s Greater Montreal central council, said in an interview that it was during the COP15 United Nations biodiversity conference held in Montreal in 2022 that many in the union leadership realized how important it is for the labour movement to join forces with local environmental groups.

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“We are really making the link with heat islands and climate change that will affect the lives of everyone, including workers,” she said. “These three sites were chosen for our environmental trip, our bus tour, because we want our members to learn about these sites. Often we don’t hear about a lot of these sites in the west (part of the island). We hear a lot about Boisé Steinberg but no so much about the other two (Technoparc and Fairview).”

She said about 30 members of different unions answered the call to ride bus, including daycare workers, hospital employees and CEGEP teachers.

She said it is as important that workers become aware of the importance of environmental issues as it is that environmentalists understand workers’ concerns as Quebec undergoes the energy transition in response to climate change. While some politicians continue to suggest that society must choose between protecting jobs and responding to climate change, she said both can and must be priorities.

“We have to go fast in this energy transition but without forgetting about the workers in non-renewable energy sectors, for example. We have to do both at the same time. The important thing is not to forget workers. We can do a lot if we listen to workers. They are the ones who know best how to make changes to businesses to make things as green as possible.”

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Montreal is losing green space faster than the Canadian average for large urban centres. In its 2022 Census of Environment program report, Statistics Canada noted that urban greenness is dropping fast in Canadian cities. The report compared average greenness over the five-year period 2018 to 2022 with a baseline period (2000 to 2004) and found average urban greenness declined by eight percentage points across Canada. In Montreal, average greenness went from 78.6 per cent in 2000-2004 to 69.3 per cent in 2018-2022; a 9.3-point drop.

“Areas with trees and vegetation improve local air quality, increase cooling effects, reduce wind speeds, absorb water runoff, provide habitat for wildlife and offer recreational opportunities for people living in local communities,” that report notes.

mlalonde@postmedia.com

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