Facebook editorial: environment without bias!
Facebook editorial: environment without bias!
Societas Criticus, revue de critique sociale et politique, Vol. 28-03 - Éditos : www.societascriticus.com
A translation assisted by Google translation and Antidote of our French text Édito Facebook : l’environnement sans parti-pris ! The original quotes « in French » are followed by their translation [« in English »].
Michel Handfield, M.Sc. in Sociology, 2026-06-29 (according to my Facebook post of 2026-06-21)
A flurry of changes to make
We recently had another heavy downpour, but it's more than that, because it's becoming increasingly frequent. We're no longer talking about one episode every 10-20 years, but at least one episode per year, if not more.
Rainfall episodes exceeding 100 mm, like those we're experiencing now, are a game-changer. I quote from a passage in La Presse concerning a sector in the west of Montreal Island this past weekend:
« Ce secteur de Pierrefonds-Roxboro n’est pas près de la rivière des Prairies et n’est pas une zone inondable reconnue. Les précipitations ont été si violentes que l’eau est remontée par la nappe phréatique, s’infiltrant par les fissures des fondations, a expliqué le maire d’arrondissement. » (1)
[« This sector of Pierrefonds-Roxboro is not near the Rivière des Prairies and is not a recognized flood zone. The rainfall was so intense that the water rose through the water table, seeping in through cracks in the foundations,” explained the borough mayor. »] (1)
In the days before in La Presse, there was talk of civic responsibility, which hadn't gone down well with some citizens. (2) But, if it concerns the water table, it's beneath the streets, sewers, houses, and land. So, if it rises, it rises everywhere, whether in parks or basements.
It may be necessary to rethink the use of basements, transforming them from apartments in houses or rental units into utility cellars, as was the case in the past. This is a significant change for which people are unprepared, but it is currently being discussed. Some are even advocating for their abolition. (3)
Naturally, cities also need to make changes, such as more frequent inspections and maintenance of sewers. However, increasing the size of pipes is not always the solution. If pipes need to be buried deeper because they're larger, they can also end up in the water table and be partially submerged! This is certainly not an advantage in the event of rising water levels.
Our municipalities should instead seek new solutions to prevent runoff from flowing too quickly into the sewers. We can consider sponge parks (4), but also vegetated or permeable street and/or sidewalk edges so that rainwater or snowmelt can seep into the ground rather than directly into the sewer system. We could even go further, which will likely come at a cost:
« Afin de rendre les villes plus résilientes aux inondations causées par les changements climatiques, des chercheurs développent des revêtements de chaussée plus perméables qui permettent à l'eau de s'écouler à travers les rues plutôt que de ruisseler à la surface et de se retrouver dans les sous-sols des résidences. » (5)
[« To make cities more resilient to flooding caused by climate change, researchers are developing more permeable pavement surfaces that allow water to flow through the streets rather than running off the surface and into the basements of homes. »] (5)
Individual action
While there are things our cities need to do, as citizens we must also consider what we can do at our own level. With a little judgment and creativity, we can take certain actions. Based on my own experience, here's what I've done:
- Clean garage and basement drains at least once per season;
- Regularly check and clean my outside drain near my garage door (others may have a drain near a basement door, for example) to prevent the drain pipe from being blocked by leaves, sand or soil following work, strong winds or heavy rains to prevent water from rising outside and seeping inside;
- When possible, replace patio slabs with "permeable paving materials" (look it up on Google!); grass and/or clover, for example. This way, the soil absorbs more water instead of sending it towards the house. In my case, I kept the cement border to define the space (photo);
- Along the house, where possible, I put down rock and rock dust to allow rainwater to drain from the roof into the ground, which retains some moisture, as the soil in my area is clay. For rocky or sandy soil, a different approach might be necessary. This needs to be checked;
- I have a few arborvitae (cedars) that I prune to seven or eight feet to provide some shade; a small garden (tomatoes, hot peppers, and blueberries); clover, grass, and a few wildflowers in the yard. In front, I have a garden of wildflowers and perennials, which also drains the soil and provides a more natural environment than interlocking pavers, asphalt, or cement;
- Finally, I aerated my interlocking pavers by moving some of them to create spacing, especially near my garage door (photo), which allows the ground to absorb more water before it reaches the sewer. I also did the same thing along the side of the house, in my driveway.
I'm not saying it's perfect, but the water absorbed in this way can reduce water shocks.
When cities say that citizens should consider redesigning their spaces to absorb some of the rainwater, this is probably what they have in mind. I did it gradually, through trial and error, to arrive at a result I liked.
Government and global action is needed
While individual actions help, imagine if our local and national leaders acted in accordance with other governments and the UN, based on the signals sent by the planet (floods, prolonged heat waves, droughts, forest fires, etc.) and in accordance with science: things would change. This was the aim of the Montreal Protocol (6), for example.
But, since the arrival of Donald Trump and the rightward shift of several governments, it seems that most of our leaders are more interested in energy resources than in their effects on climate and health.
Environmental laws are increasingly being reduced to displays of good intentions, as if the environment were opposed to the economy, when what is needed is to adopt a different way of thinking about economic development that respects the sustainability of the planet, in terms of humanity, biodiversity and the economy.
It may surprise some people that I'm talking about the sustainability of the economy, but it's not. If we deplete resources without thinking about recycling and reuse, we will, sooner or later, reach a resource shortage that will cause far more damage than a change in the economic model, such as gradually transitioning to a social and solidarity economy.
Reducing and increasing at the same time is possible!
It would be possible to reduce the use of polluting energy resources (coal, oil, gas) if we developed alternative energies (solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, biomass) more rapidly at the same time; if we used cars intelligently in a mix of public and active transportation; if we reduced unnecessary travel; in short, if we reduced overconsumption and its perverse effects! This reminds me of "Small is beautiful," a book from the 1970s by E. F. Schumacher that perhaps we should revisit.
We need to go beyond simplistic populism
Political parties and leaders often resort to simple, relatively undisturbed solutions to avoid losing votes and even gain new ones, across the entire political spectrum. But if things were so easy to fix, we would have done it a long time ago.
It is therefore not surprising to see a rise of populist leaders who have gained popularity by denying climate change and science; using « fake news » and alternative reality to compete with the facts and warnings of scientists, drowning them in a flow of increasingly unverifiable information on social networks; and threatening institutions that go against their ideologies, especially universities.
Even the Parti Québécois (PQ), for electoral reasons, now prefers to talk about roads rather than the high-speed rail line, because voters don't want to change their habits despite the extreme weather events that have been accumulating and accelerating for several years: forest fires, floods, and drought affecting hydroelectric basins in the Far North. Yet, in 2022, Québec Solidaire (QS) and the PQ had the most ambitious climate plans in Quebec. (7) But denying them today doesn't change the facts, despite what Donald Trump and his supporters say.
It's climate change, that's for sure!
Moreover, insurers and actuaries—serious businesspeople who do calculations and work with probabilities—have no doubt about it. And if anyone is conservative in their predictions and figures, it's certainly them. So, for me, a conservative who denies climate change isn't a true conservative, because a conservative speaks first about conservation, which is inherent to conservatism. 🙂
Notes
1. Julianne Mondoloni et Édouard Desroches, Pierrefonds-Roxboro. Des sinistrés inondés pour la troisième fois, La Presse, 2026-06-22 :
2. Je cite deux passages :
« « Il faut regarder au-delà des infrastructures. La question n’est pas seulement qu’est-ce que les villes peuvent faire, mais aussi comment on peut aider les gens à mettre en place des mesures pour protéger leurs propres maisons. » Jim Beis, maire de l’arrondissement de Pierrefonds-Roxboro.
« « On ne remet pas toute la responsabilité sur les résidants, la Ville a une responsabilité également, mais tout le monde doit être responsable à parts égales », a affirmé Joel Joly, chef de division Voirie et Aqueduc à Dollard-des-Ormeaux. »
[« « We need to look beyond infrastructure. The question isn't just what cities can do, but also how we can help people put measures in place to protect their own homes. » Jim Beis, Mayor of the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough.
« « We are not placing all the responsibility on the residents, the City also has a responsibility, but everyone must be equally responsible, » said Joel Joly, head of the Roads and Waterworks division in Dollard-des-Ormeaux. »]
Chloé Bourquin, Inondations à Dollard-des-Ormeaux. Des résidants rejettent la responsabilité sur la Ville, La Presse, 2026-06-21:
3. Cet article est assez complet sur le sujet, avec références :
Association des consommateurs pour la qualité dans la construction, Sous-sols, inondations et assurances, 28 juillet 2025 :
https://www.acqc.ca/fr/actualite/sous-sols-inondations-et-assurances
4. Chloé Bourquin, Lutte contre les inondations. Les parcs éponges, comment ça marche?, La Presse, 13 juillet 2025 :
5. La Presse canadienne, Des chaussées perméables pour des villes plus résilientes aux inondations, ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle, 18 août 2024 :
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2097696/chaussees-permeables-villes-inondations
6. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocole_de_Montr%C3%A9al
7. Caroline Brouillette, Comment démêler les plans climat des partis provinciaux ?, L’actualité, 15 septembre 2022 :
https://lactualite.com/environnement/comment-demeler-les-plans-climat-des-partis-provinciaux/
