Climate change still high on Quebecers’ election agenda

Quebec remains a rare stronghold for climate action in Canada, where voters consistently demand bold policies. While the federal Liberal government has been moving more to the centre on climate change policy, including on the issue of pipelines, the Bloc Quebecois continues to be firmly opposed.

In comparison to other regions of Canada, Quebecers remain one of the most progressive provinces on climate action, with a recent poll from Leger and Équiterre showing 83 per cent of Quebecers want the next government to do more to protect nature and fight climate change.

Polling also shows the Bloc Québécois is leading in the polls, meaning the party will continue to influence climate policy in parliament.

In Quebec, there is much less partisanship around climate change than in other provinces, said Amy Janzwood, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and the Bieler School of the Environment at McGill University. She said Quebec has a long history of activism from environmental organizations, Indigenous groups and labour unions, which have consistently pushed for stronger environmental protections and laws while opposing fossil fuel infrastructure.

A lot of the political discourse in Quebec around climate change positions the transition to green energy as an economic opportunity, she said. In other provinces, it is more likely to be seen as being at odds with economic growth. Quebecers tend to believe Canada can thrive by building up green energy industries like battery development, critical minerals and hydro expansion.

“There's a lot of really complex issues there around Indigenous rights and responsibilities to land, but in any case, the messaging from the CAQ [Coalition Avenir Québec] government has been about embracing the economic opportunities of an energy transition,” she said.

The Bloc Québécois pledges to drive industry away from fossil fuels, cut emissions, push federal investment in electrification, support greener agriculture, and expand battery and EV charging infrastructure, says Patrick Bonin, special advisor to the Bloc Québecois on environment and climate change who plans to run in the next federal election.

He said the Bloc Québécois is also the only political party that respects the Quebec Environmental Consensus, a document put forward by a number of Quebec’s social and environmental groups advocating for a common front around climate change that is meant to represent the opinions of Quebecers as a whole.

“We are connected with the Quebecers,” Bonin said. “If we want to be serious about climate change, we need a strong voice from the Quebecois and make sure that we push the federal government and pull [it] in the right direction.”

Specifically, he says this includes capping emissions and ending the subsidization of oil and gas companies in addition to regulating Canadian banks, which he says are among the worst in the world in terms of financing fossil fuels. They will continue to pressure the government to adhere to the regulations intended to limit climate warming to 1.5 C per the Paris Agreement, he added.

Before becoming an advisor for the Bloc, Bonin worked for Greenpeace, where Liberal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault also worked before becoming a member of parliament. Bonin said that while he believes Guilbeault is encouraging the Liberal government to do more for climate change, he said there are other forces within all federal parties that force them to compromise on climate change policy.

Quebec’s environmentalism could be cause for concern among federal parties hoping to campaign on oil and gas development. Last week, Jonathan Wilkinson, Federal Liberal Energy Minister, brought up building an east-west oil pipeline, saying it would make Canada more resilient to United States President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. Janzwood says this suggestion won’t do anything to help win over Quebec voters.

“It's quite shocking to see the kind of political rhetoric around pipelines that have been in long since cancelled,” she said. “Building new pipelines is, unfortunately, not the answer to our economic challenges that might be coming given what the Trump administration may or may not decide to do.”

While the vast majority of Quebecers say they want the government to do more for climate change, Janzwood said with ongoing concerns around the economy and Canada’s relationship with the U.S., climate change is slipping off the political agenda. Not so in Quebec, Janzwood added. If Liberal politicians continue to bring up the east-west oil pipeline, she says this won’t appeal to Quebec voters.

“Climate has not had the same kind of political backlash and polarization that it has had in other provinces,” she said. “I don’t think that the move to the center is necessarily going to appeal to more voters in Quebec.”