QPIRG and the Environment
Context: QPIRG and the Environment
QPIRG is involved with multiple environmental groups with the goal of spreading awareness and knowledge of various environmental issues. Working closely with the North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation (NAFEC), QPIRG has worked to provide local communities with easy access to academic information[1]. QPIRG and NAFEC emphasize the importance of public consultation, responding to public demands and making information accessible across community members. NAFEC was active from 1995 to 2003, loaning over $9 million in grants across that time[2]. The group began working with QPIRG as early as 1998. Janice Astbury, NAFEC’s coordinator at the time, noted that QPIRG was one of the few groups that, in meetings amongst environmental non-governmental organizations, paid attention to “the sources of food in the context of their work on organic agriculture and fair trade.”[3] Two particular cases of QPIRG working with local groups to empower McGill students with the knowledge to aid the environment will be examined. QPIRG’s involvement with EarthSave attempts to promote sustainability through the adoption of plant-based diets. QPIRG has also worked with ALCAN’T to educate students about events involving ALCAN and India. Together these groups represent QPIRG covering various subjects concerning the environment, allowing for many different problem-solving methods.
QPIRG and EarthSave work together to promote environmental awareness by advocating a plant-based diet, encouraging sound nutrition, conservation of resources and sustainable agriculture. QPIRG McGill is the main sponsor for Montreal’s EarthSave branch, playing an important role in helping EarthSave meet its goals while at the same time being promoted itself. Both groups beginning to work together in the mid-1990s proved to be excellent timing – the rise of the internet as a form of communication combined with the creation of the Kyoto Protocol proved to be an excellent starting point, as society was simultaneously becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues.
QPIRG also worked alongside Alcan’t in India. According to the Research Group on Collective Autonomy, “Alcan’t India is a Montreal-based collective which supports people living in the Kashipur area of India in their struggle to maintain control over the development of their lands and resources.”[4] Alcan’t directly opposes ALCAN, a Canadian mining company in Kashipur solely to exploit bauxite resources.[5] QPIRG was in charge of training aspects concerning Alcan’t in India, meaning bringing awareness of ALCAN’s situation in India to students in Montreal. This was a pressing issue, as it was feared that ALCAN’s activity would “[contaminate] the cultivable lands and local streams in the area.”[6] ALCAN has since abandoned the project.[7]
1. Second International Workshop: New Tools for Supporting Environmental Decisions, 1997, File: New Tools for Supporting Environmental Decisions, Box 19, McGill University Archives.
2.“North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation,” Commission for Environmental Cooperation, accessed March 29th, 2014. http://www.cec.org/Page.asp?PageID=924&SiteNodeID=374.
3.Janice Astbury, “Cultural Constructions of the Environment Among Mexican and Canadian Environmentalists: Comparison and Implications for NGO Partnerships ,“ National Library of Canada, 1998, 45.
4.“Alcan’t in India,” Research Group on Collective Autonomy, accessed March 29th, 2014. http://repertoire.crac-kebec.org/en/content/alcan%E2%80%99t-india
5.Justice S. N. Bhargava, “Kashipur: An Enquiry into Mining and Human Rights Violations in Kashipur, Orissa: Report of the Indian People's Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights,” Indian People's Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights, October 2006, 17.
6.Sanjay Khatua and William Stanley, “Ecological Debt: A Case Study From Orissa, India,” Integrated Rural Development of Weaker Sections in India, June 17th, 2006, 33.
7. Andy Hoffman, “Alcan Pulling out of Utkal Project in India,” The Globe and Mail, Apr. 12 2007.
Works Cited
“Alcan’t in India.” Research Group on Collective Autonomy. http://repertoire.crac-
kebec.org/en/content/alcan%E2%80%99t-india (accessed March 29th, 2014).
Astbury, Janice. “Cultural Constructions of the Environment Among Mexican and Canadian
Environmentalists: Comparison and Implications for NGO Partnerships.” National Library of
Canada, 1998.
Bhargava, Justice S. N. “Kashipur: An Enquiry into Mining and Human Rights Violations in Kashipur,
Orissa: Report of the Indian People's Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights.” Indian
People's Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights, October 2006.
Hoffman, Andy. “Alcan Pulling out of Utkal Project in India.” The Globe and Mail, Apr. 12 2007.
Khatua, Sanjay and Stanley, William. “Ecological Debt: A Case Study From Orissa, India.” Integrated Rural
Development of Weaker Sections in India, June 17th, 2006.
"North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation." Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
http://www.cec.org/Page.asp?PageID=924&SiteNodeID=374 (accessed March 29th, 2014).
Second International Workshop: New Tools for Supporting Environmental Decisions, 1997, File: New
Tools for Supporting Environmental Decisions, Box 19, McGill University Archives.