Delivered on Sept. 24, 2019 by Émilie Richer, President of the Dawson Teachers’ Union
At Dawson College, Montreal

On behalf of the Dawson Teachers’ Union, the Dawson Support Staff Union, and the Association of Dawson Professionals, I would like to thank Dawson College for its ongoing commitment to sustainability. We are proud to see our college recognized within the cégep network, as a leader on environmental issues and are encouraged by the wide diversity of green initiatives within our community.

The work we are doing at Dawson is possible thanks to the vision of our administration, but it is accomplished by students, teachers and staff members who each contribute their time to this common cause. We hope that the planting of a new white pine on our grounds will serve as a symbol of our desire to push for an even more radical shift in the way our community fights climate change.

If we hope to effect real change, we cannot act alone. We have a small window of opportunity in which to mitigate the damage we are causing to our planet. Nothing short of the full backing of our elected officials– at every level – will be sufficient to address the immense challenges we face.

We would like to conclude by thanking Dawson College for facilitating our participation in the Global Climate Strike movement, by cancelling classes this Friday, September 27th. This will allow all of our community members the opportunity to march in support of climate action. This day of protest is particularly significant to us as members of a public educational institution, given its origins as a student movement. It is both humbling and inspiring to see students who are empowered, informed, and striving for a better world. It is a reminder that at the heart of everything we do here at Dawson is our commitment to our students and the future that we are collectively building with them.