Fifty years of environmental caricatures

André Bélisle, president and co-founder of the Quebec Association for the Fight Against Atmospheric Pollution (AQLPA), has been involved in all environmental struggles for the past thirty years, from acid rain to shale gas, including the Suroît power plant and the inspection program for old vehicles. In an effort to share the history of these struggles and explain the challenges we still face, the environmental activist has gathered here some 130 cartoons dealing with environmental issues that have been published over the past 50 years in various Quebec and Canadian newspapers. This humorous review of environmental news, the result of a collaboration with the McCord Museum, wonderfully illustrates the evolution of Quebec society in this regard. Air pollution, the PCB barrel fire in Saint-Basile-le-Grand, the Saguenay flood, the great ice storm, logging, but also global warming, the Mount Orford saga, wind power development, or the Richelieu River floods: nothing escapes the sharp eye (and pencil) of the cartoonists! In this book, revisit the works of Aislin (The Gazette), Bado (Le Droit), Beaudet and Pier (Le Journal de Montréal), Chapleau (Le Devoir and La Presse), Fleg (Le Soleil and Yahoo! Québec), Garnotte (Le Devoir), Godin (Voir and Sympatico), and others. Grouped by environmental theme, they are accompanied by a text presenting the historical context and the main issues of the case. They are also commented by André Bélisle, who, page after page, reveals anecdotes related to his experience as an activist in the corridors of power. A unique account that sheds a biting light on the history of environmental struggles here and elsewhere. At a time when the ecological crisis is causing fears of the worst for the future of our planet, let's take the time to laugh "green and against all odds"...