See what our PIE Interns got up to in Montréal!

Join our Parliamentary Interns for the Environment for a recap of their interjurisdictional trip to Montréal!🌱🌍

During their three day itinerary, the interns got to explore a variety of places in the city all while learning about the bold moves Montréal is making as they adapt to a bio-diverse and climate-friendly lifestyle. Blending together the social, political, and scientific aspect is what this program is all about!

But let's hear directly from the interns...

Day One: The Insectarium, Biodôme, and Planetarium 

First we met with Mr. Maxim Larrivée, Director of the Insectarium, for an in depth conversation about the necessity of creating diverse habitats within Montréal to allow insects and pollinators to contribute to the biodiversity of the city. 

Next, we met with Mr. Jean-Philippe Gagnon who is a Biodôme Research Officer and gave us the grand tour of the different habitats the biodome has to offer. We learned a lot about the importance of their works and more importantly, got to meet the animals they’ve rescued!

We ended the day with a visit to the planetarium and enjoyed an incredible cosmic journey!

Day Two: Ville de Montréal (City Hall)

We spent our morning amongst the beautiful building that is City Hall! As it was recently restored, it was the perfect time to take a tour and learn about the incredible history of Montréal. As one of the largest metropolitan cities in Canada, it has a unique political system that ensures its residents in both the city of Montreal and its boroughs are well taken care of. 

We ended our tour with the Borough Mayor of Verdun, Marie-Andrée Mauger, who provided us with excellent conversation surrounding the impacts of climate change in Montréal and her borough and making the city and even better place to live. 

In the evening, we met with two former interns Danielle and Clément to discuss their careers since they ended their programs, and gain some insight as we move into the final month of this cohort's journey. 

Day Three: Meeting with MNA Haroun Bouazzi, Ville en Vert, and Apathy is Boring

We started our final day with the Member for Maurice-Richard, Haroun Bouazzi to discuss more about provincial politics in Québec. As a member of Québec solidaire, he was able to give us some in-depth knowledge on his beliefs surrounding social justice and how that includes green perspectives. As interns come from across Canada, it's interesting to learn the differences between provinces. 

Next, we took a quick walk over to one of the Ville en Vert Urban Garden. We were given an amazing tour of the areas and learned about the many amazing initiatives that this program hosts, including providing low cost produce to communities with limited access to grocery stores. 

To finish our day we met with Irmak Taner, Projects Lead at Apathy is Boring, an organization aimed at finding ways to encourage youth to actively participate in our democracy in meaningful ways. We learned a lot about their youth programs across Canada, took a tour of their HQ and took a stab at their in-house card game that gets you talking about democracy!

Thank you to everyone who made our interjurisdictional trip a huge success, for all those who took time out of their busy schedules to meet with us and answer many of our questions. We look forward to fostering these new connections and continue to build on the conversations we had! 

Until next time Montréal, Au Revoir! 👋🏼