2,000 march to halt shale gas development
JUNE 18, 2011-- Pauline Marois (right), leader of the Parti Quebecois, marches alongside others in protest against the shale gas industry in Montreal on Saturday, June 18, 2011.
MONTREAL – From afar, it could easily have been mistaken for an impromptu parade. There were trumpets, drums, bubbles floating up from the crowd and giant puppets hoisted aloft as a procession of over 2,000 people made its way through the downtown core on Saturday.
While undeniably festive, the event was, in fact, a demonstration against shale gas development in Quebec. It drew people from villages and towns all over the province, who came by the busload to march with signs that read “Protect our drinking water” and “Charest, you give me gas!”
Police were on hand to help direct traffic, and the march remained peaceful and almost joyous as it wound its way up René Lévesque Blvd. and then back down Ste. Catherine St. under clear blue skies. A mock shale gas drill was mounted on a truck at the front of the procession, which spewed both water and flames as the marchers chanted behind it.
“I think we need to be very careful with the planet,” said a woman from St. Hilaire who gave her name only as Carole. “I’m very happy to see (so many people). I hope it will snowball ... because this is really a citizens’ movement.”
Many of the protesters echoed those sentiments, referring to the march over and over again as the result of a grassroots movement that was formed, organized and promoted by average Quebecers concerned about shale gas exploration in the province.
The march was also the culmination of a five-week trek undertaken by a small group of people who left Rimouski on May 16 and headed toward Montreal on foot. The walkers are demanding a generation-long moratorium (about 20 years) on fossil fuel activity in Quebec.
Shale gas – which is extracted from rock formations using a technique called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” – has been a controversial resource from the very beginning. Following a series of public hearings, the Liberal government proposed new regulations that would obligate companies to obtain authorization for all of their test and exploitation activities, disclose the science and techniques of their drilling methods, disclose the geology and water tables in their drilling areas, and detail how they plan to control air pollution and dispose of any contaminated water.
The opposition Parti Québecois says that just isn’t enough.
“The PQ has taken a stand on a moratorium on shale gas from the very beginning,” said Scott McKay, representative for l’Assomption and the PQ’s official spokesperson on issues involving mining. “The government is still not listening, so hopefully something like this today will be an eye-opener.”
McKay, who walked alongside party leader Pauline Marois at the demonstration, said the large turnout was “more than I was dreaming of.”
Gas companies have now drilled 31 shale gas wells in Quebec, mostly in the St. Lawrence Lowlands. Nineteen of those wells have leaked.
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