The rites of Spring

The coltsfoot has started to show itself with quaint yellow sunbursts, hundreds of wood squills open every day, the yellow daffodil buds are just about to bust open, the hybrid red-sugar maple is in full bloom: it is a good time of the year, no doubt about it.

Some croci, those that are most in the shade, are still opening on sunny days, but they are to be followed by the tulip show, right now only in leaf form, but in great form if this kind of weather is to keep on going.

The ground is still soft, even saturated with water in some places, so I still tour the garden carefully, making sure my steps hit the ground flat, and lift my foot one at a time very slowly, the same way.

I have even separated some irises, those pale mauve ones from my mother's garden, the one three houses away from mine, not the one she had built across the Chambly Basin. They tend to stray down into the path in the middle of the perennial garden along the south-east side of the house. So those I transplanted nearer the wall, in gaps between the peonies. I must not forget to water them every other day until they get a good rain soaking.

The 6 foot tall Colorado Blue Spruce seedling that had keeled over after freezing rain and heavy snow is now tied in two places, braced to take a more upright stance. I hope it will restore its root system quickly enough so that I can remove the support before the new growth comes out.

I have yet to see many butterflies: a Mourning Cloak, an old one that must have just come out from hibernation, surprised me by flying right over my head and dropping down under my eyes. And the honey bees are very busy going from one flower to the next, and then back again.

I never tire of sitting outside, watching all this silently, surrounded by birds who barely take notice of me anymore. They sing, chirp, feed, hop and skip all around me as if I was part of their dance. Some have started to drink in the birdbath, and I noticed the water had been splashed all over at some point: one must have taken an early dip. And I'm glad to hear that song sparrows are back in my neck of the woods: they were not around for the past few years and I missed them. Their song makes me glad to be alive.

Spring is very uplifting, indeed!

My problem with Mulcair

Protesters trying to get Mulcair to cancel pig farm project in Richelieu, photo by Eric Cloutier


I personnally have nothing against the NDP. But ever since they have elected Thomas Mulcair as their leader, I wonder if they are oblivious to the man's past, or if they are corrupted as all the rest of most of the politicians that govern us. I have boxes of documentation, newspaper clippings and copies of letters to corroborate what I will say here, but I will try to be brief.

Back in 2005, Mulcair was the Quebec Environment Minister under the Liberal government of Jean Charest - yes, the same one that was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party for a while. There were a lot of environmental topics being seriously discussed in my province, but since about year 2000, the new way of raising pigs to make them a major export made rural citizens all over the province go down in the streets and protest.

The industrial way to raise huge amounts of pigs, removing them from their natural urge to turn up soil with their snout and raising them in concrete buildings their whole lives made the disposal of their waste a huge problem. The solution is to raise the floors and wash the place with great quantities of water, storing the waste in vast pits, and spraying the marinated product on surrounding farmland.

This method posed multiple problems that amounted to a convergence of pollution and monocultures of GMOs. In order to feed an ever growing population of pigs, farmland became a medium to grow GMO corn and GMO soy almost exclusively. That meant the decimation of insects, birds, woodlots, microfauna. Rich soil became a sterile medium that had to be boosted up either by urea or pig slurry or both.

The phenomenal amount of pig slurry had to be disposed of, and it ended up being sprayed on farmland already subject to erosion because of the disappearance of woodlots and buffer strips. The saturated fields, no longer holding any more humus, drained into ditches, watercourses and lakes at every rain. Climate change made things worse: long droughts, but mostly heavy rains, chocked out the watercourses and provoked changes in the species that could live and reproduce in them.

So back in 2005, the Environment Ministry gave out a certificate of authorization for the construction of the biggest new pig farm of Quebec (5,800 animals), and that was in my hometown: Richelieu. The buildings and slurry pits were to be built along the Richelieu River, the biggest effluent on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. The slurry was also to be spread on farmland along the river. The two concrete slurry pits were put at the confluence of two streams that poured directly into the Richelieu River, at about 15 km upstream from the surface water intake of the drinking water plant for 3 surrounding municipalities, and about 20 km from a nature preserve protecting the spawning grounds of an endangered endemic fish species. Neighbors with drinking water wells not deep enough were out of luck: they had to have new deeper drinking water wells drilled at their own expense.

Only a handful of people in my hometown were in favor of this project. The whole town went up in arms, and citizens from surrounding municipalities joined in the fray. But once the permit is given out by the ministry, only the Environment Minister has the power to revoke the permit. Three women, me one of them, were able to get a few minutes to speak with Mulcair after a rain of letters and postcards were sent to him. But he would not listen. He would keep repeating the same speech he gave every time a controversial project endangering the environment would be questioned.

So Mulcair was the only one who could have spared an already very polluted river from bad agricultural practises from going from bad to worse. Mulcair was the only one who could have spared the many people living in the country that became sick every time spreading of pesticides or fertilizer was done. Mulcair was the only one who could have helped keep the price of cleaning up the river water for drinking purposes from rising even more. Mulcair was the only one who could have spared the many homeowners who had to dig new wells for their drinking water. Mulcair was the only one who could have kept the air from turning sour when that pig slurry was churned in those pits, or when it was pumped into tanks and spread across the land.

So that is why my opinion of the NDP took a drop when Mulcair was chosen as their leader. Because in my eyes, he betrayed my trust in good sense and good governance.


Photo: scientific study by NOVE Environnement showing the smell coming from the pig buildings and slurry pits (not the slurry spreading)across the Richelieu Valley, reaching many surrounding urban areas.

Here is a reproduction of the official document describing the pig farm project in Richelieu. The 2 red dots are the concrete pits holding the pig slurry. The 4 blue rectangles are the pig barns. The 2 slurry pits (in red) are at the junction of streams making 2 big Ys (in green) whose feet end up in the Richelieu River at the left:

The whole sky

A whole sky is needed for the flight of one butterfly.

- Howard Hart

Il faut tout le ciel au complet pour le vol d'un seul papillon.

Nouvelle stratégie énergétique: de la poudre aux yeux!

Il n'y a pas grand monde avec qui je suis d'accord au Québec quand il s'agit de choses sociales et environnementales. Il y a Harvey Mead qui, étant philosophe, n'est pas toujours facile à suivre. Il y a aussi Roméo Bouchard, que j'ai suivi pendant la lutte aux cochons durant le début des années 2000, et couramment, durant la lutte énergétique. Je ne suis pas toujours Roméo, surtout quand il s'agit de politique, mais ce papier sur la toute nouvelle stratégie énergétique du Québec, je suis entièrement d'accord à 100%!



Nouvelle stratégie énergétique : de la poudre aux yeux!

Roméo Bouchard, publié sur Facebook dimanche le 10 avril, 2016

La poudre dans les yeux, ça donne l'impression qu'il se passe quelque chose mais ça empêche de voir quoi...

C'est exactement ce que fait cette « non-stratégie énergétique », confiée à une nouvelle agence soi-disant indépendante à venir, qui rendra des comptes à une nouvelle Régie de l'Énergie à venir, sous l'égide tutélaire du ministre des ressources naturelles, donc du ministre de l'extraction, et présentée comme notre transition vers un Québec prospère.


Objectif éblouissant : 40% moins de pétrole, donc de GES, d'ici 2030 (89-95% d'ici 2050). Cet objectif, qualifié de prometteur par certains écologistes optimistes, est jugé par les experts insuffisant pour maintenir le réchauffement à 2 degrés, compte-tenu du fait qu'il faut des siècles à éliminer ce qui a déjà été accumulé. Or un réchauffement à 2.5 degrés signifierait, entre autres choses, une hausse du niveau de la mer pouvant aller jusqu'à 50 mètres et la privation d'eau pour plus d'un milliard d'habitants. Ce n'est pas de l'alarmisme, c'est le consensus scientifique.


Moyens vagues et insuffisants: remplacer le pétrole, dans les transports surtout (43%), par les énergies renouvelables (+25%), le gaz naturel (de schiste!!!) et le pétrole québécois (!!!), et investir 4 milliards en 15 ans pour accroître notre efficacité énergétique (+15% d'ici 2030), montant recyclé jugé insuffisant par les experts.


La tâche du Québec, riche en hydroélectricité soi-disant propre, est pourtant beaucoup plus facile que celle de pays dépendants du charbon, comme les USA, la Chine ou l'Angleterre, qui, on peut l'anticiper, atteindront beaucoup plus difficilement ces cibles.

Pas de mention de la fiscalité écologique, ni du réaménagement incontournable du territoire et des villes, ni de la relocalisation de nos activités économiques et sociales, ni d'un prix crédible du carbone, ni des mille changements douloureux requis pour y parvenir : c'est à venir.

Pas de référence surtout, au-delà de la question des GES et du climat, à l'enjeu global inséparable de notre empreinte écologique insoutenable et à l'effondrement des écosystèmes planétaires qui nous pend sur la tête d'ici 2050: croissance industrielle compulsive, épuisement constant de ressources indispensables, rareté croissante de l'eau, pollution hors contrôle, effondrement accéléré de la biodiversité et de nos systèmes alimentaires, augmentation explosive des inégalités sociales.

L'auto électrique et les transports électrifiés ne sont pas une solution magique si on continue à se déplacer et à tout déplacer comme des malades, à produire et consommer comme des drogués, à subir la dictature des riches sans réagir.


Survivre dans un monde de plus en plus hostile sera pas mal plus compliqué que ce que laissent entendre Couillard et Arcand, et même plusieurs écologistes qui, pour se montrer positifs et ne pas démobiliser les citoyens, voient des « signes prometteurs » et des « pas dans la bonne direction” un peu partout.


En fait, c'est moins de transition qu'il faut parler que de stratégie de survie.

Lien: https://www.facebook.com/notes/rom%C3%A9o-bouchard/nouvelle-strat%C3%A9gie-%C3%A9nerg%C3%A9tique-de-la-poudre-aux-yeux/10155028201958849

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I find that there are not many thinkers in Quebec who say things as they are, being realistic from a social and environmental point of view. Among those that I respect, there is Harvey Mead, philosopher, and as such, not always easy to understand and grasp entirely. Then there is Roméo Bouchard, who looks at things more from a political point of view, but who I have followed through the pig fight, and currently, the energy fight. His political views are not always in line with mine, but in this piece where he sums up pretty well the recent new Quebec energy strategy, I pretty much agree with 100%!

Here is my translation of above piece written by Roméo:

New energy strategy: smoke and mirrors!

Smoke and mirrors just gives the impression that something is going on but it is not clear what it is...

That is exactly what this "non-strategic energy policy" is doing, assigned to a new agency supposedly independent that is to be formed, that will answer to a new Energy Authority to come, under the oversight of the Natural Resources minister, so a minister of extraction, and presented like our transition to a prosperous Quebec.

Blinding objective: 40% less oil, and greenhouse gases, by 2030 (89%-95% by 2050). This objective, qualified as promising by some optimistic environmentalists, is judged insufficient to keep the warming of the planet at 2 degrees by experts, because of the fact that centuries must past to eliminate was has been accumulating for this long. But a warming of 2,5 degrees would mean, among other things, a rise of the oceans that could go as high as 50 meters and lack of water for more than a billion humans. This is not alarmism, it is scientific consensus.

Vague and insufficient means: to replace oil, especially in transportation (43%), by renewable energy (+25%), natural gas (shale gas!) and Quebec oil (!!!) and investing 4 billion over 15 years to increase our energy efficiency (+15% by 2030), amount recycled judged insufficient by experts.

But Quebec's job, rich in hydro-electricity qualified as clean by some, is much easier than countries depending on coal, like the US, China or England, that, we can predict, will have a much harder time reaching their targets.


There is no mention of ecological fiscality, nor the inescapable adjustment of the territory and of towns, nor the relocation of our economic and social activities, nor a credible carbon price, nor the thousands much painful changes required to get there: that is to come.

Especially no reference, besides the question of greenhouse gases and of the climate, to the global issue inseparable from our unsustainable ecological footprint and the collapse of the planetary ecosystems that is bound to happen by 2050: compulsive industrial growth, constant depletion of indispensable resources, water increasingly rare to find, out of control pollution, accelerated collapse of biodiversity and of our food systems, explosive increase of social inequality.

The electric car and electrified transportation are not a magical solution if we continue to travel like this and move everything like there was no tomorrow, to produce and consume like addicts, to keep on accepting the dictatorship of the rich without fighting back.

To survive in a world more and more hostile will be much more complicated than what Couillard and Arcand want us to believe, and even many environmentalists that, to show they are positive and do not want to demobilize the citizens, see "promising signs" and "steps in the right direction" a bit everywhere.

In fact, it is less a transition we have to talk about. Rather a survival strategy.

She Is Spitting a Mouthful of Stars

Photo: Colin Smith

She Is Spitting a Mouthful of Stars (nikâwi's Song)

by Gregory Scofield

She is spitting a mouthful of stars
She is laughing more than the men who beat her
She is ten horses breaking open the day
She is new to her bones
She is holy in the dust

She is spitting a mouthful of stars
She is singing louder than the men who raped her
She is waking beyond the Milky Way
She is new to her breath
She is sacred in this breathing

She is spitting a mouthful of stars
She is holding the light more than those who despised her
She is folding clouds in her movement
She is new to this sound
She is unbroken flesh

She is spitting a mouthful of stars
She is laughing more than those who shamed her
She is ten horses breaking open the day
She is new to these bones
She is holy in their dust



Yesterday, I was criticizing The Walrus, then my eyes turned to page 71. I have trained myself not to read ads. So I read the poem right away, and thought of Jessica Ernst. Then just when I was about to turn the page, I noticed the cover of Slick Water, the book about Jessica Ernst. Maybe, just maybe, The Walrus has redeemed itself.

The Walrus has been bought off

Photo: Martin Alarie

The charitable non-profit Walrus Foundation has become a marketing stunt puppet for Enbridge, a fossil fuel company that greenwashes itself by buying out small solar and wind innovations. The May 2016 edition of The Walrus, its magazine project, holds in its heart an eight page advertisement paid by Enbridge.

I will not renew our subscription.

Peace and quiet are back, for now.

After a day and a half of intense activity, peace is temporarily back on the now empty lot. It is Friday afternoon, and everybody knows nobody in the residential construction business works at a customer's on a Friday afternoon if one can help it.

Where a two story empty home surrounded by tall soft cedars stood now only a dip in the land is left. From the street, one can see now that there are two not so wide lots, but deep enough to know a pair of homes can be built there. Snugly, but it would fit. Four great Silver Maples all in a row in the middle could be a problem for the builders, but for now, they stand guard over freshly overturned earth, splitting the property almost right in the center.

Only a few hours after the digger left, the grackles, robins, cardinals and mourning doves have already taken over, looking for food, I would guess.