This Saturday, March 19, 2022 at 11:30 am, the leader of the Green Party of Quebec, Alex Tyrrell, demonstrated for the closure of Héroux-Devtek, a plant located in Longueuil, just a stone’s throw from the Marie-Victorin riding.
Alex Tyrrell is an eco-socialist activist who was elected leader of the Green Party of Quebec in 2013 at the age of 25. He is running, this year, for the by-election in the riding of Marie-Victorin, in Longueuil. Just around the corner from the Marie-Victorin riding is the Héroux-Devtek weapons factory, which produces components for fighter jets. Alex Tyrrell has always been a peace activist and has repeatedly indicated that avoiding a war with Russia would be his top priority. His anti-war stance had recently come under fire. Today he once again spoke out against violence and for peace.
“We must have a debate on whether or not Quebec should manufacture weapons and munitions for war. This debate is more urgent than ever given the devastating situation in Ukraine where innocent people are being killed. I am here today to launch this debate by taking a clear position. It is this: Quebec should not produce weapons or munitions of war and this plant, or the section of it that produces fighter aircraft components, should be closed.”
“Today, with an uncontrolled escalation toward a major confrontation between the United States and Russia, it is more relevant than ever to have a debate in Quebec society about the weapons we produce and how they are used. We know that some of the bombs we make in Quebec are shipped to Saudi Arabia – a country that does not respect human rights and regularly bombs Yemen. We know that components produced in the factory behind me end up on American fighter jets stationed around the world. We know that weapons are for war and we know that we should be seeking world peace rather than profiting from the global arms race.”
Alex Tyrrell then stressed that a societal debate is needed on the issue of armaments: “Quebec should not benefit from military spending. We should not be complacent about a continuous and endless war. We have enough challenges here at home; the transition to renewable energy, rebuilding schools and hospitals, expanding public transit and building green infrastructure. We need buses, not bombs. We need high-speed trains, not high-speed fighter jets. We need our tax dollars spent on health care, the environment and social services, not endless war. We need affordable housing. We need Quebec scientists to work on the environment, NOT on developing more powerful explosives to kill people. We need to have this debate. We need to have a conversation as a society and I will raise this issue across the province. We need to debate and find out what Quebec’s role is in perpetuating the endless war.”
The values of environmental protection, multiculturalism, feminism, social justice and peace are integral to the Green Party of Quebec and that is why Alex Tyrrell would be honoured to have the support of Marie-Victorin voters in this by-election.
“A vote for the Green Party of Quebec is a vote to end the war, to invest in the energy transition, and to build a Quebec that matches what we want to be as a people, as a society, and as human beings.”
