3rd Affiliate Program: Health Concerned Physicians

Prime Minister,

l’Quebec Association of Physicians for the Environment (AQME) and the physicians who have co-signed this letter – all of whom work in the Quebec or Lévis regions – would like to express to you their concerns regarding 3^e Highway link between Quebec and Lévis.

This plan is an inadequate solution to the problems of highway congestion and will only increase our collective dependence on the automobile, with all the associated negative health effects.

We are primarily concerned with the contribution of transport to air quality problems, which emits 62% of air pollutants. Air pollution alone already causes 4,000 premature deaths a year in Quebec, with health costs exceeding $30 billion. Air pollution is increasingly associated with road traffic, and many air pollutants produced by motor vehicles are widely recognized as harmful and dangerous to human health – particularly socio-economically marginalized and racialized populations, often near major highways.

Note that electrifying transport is not a miracle solution, as a significant part of air pollution comes from brakes, tires and road friction.

We also cannot ignore the adverse health effects of car addiction. By promoting a sedentary lifestyle, the latter is associated with many common diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers. In addition, it contributes to the mineralization of urban space with materials such as asphalt, concrete and cobblestone. This phenomenon is strongly associated with urban heat islands, which are unevenly distributed and cause some neighborhoods to suffocate local residents, especially in summer.

Finally, we are concerned with Draft 3^e Connectivity distracts us from our collective objectives in the fight against climate change, making it more difficult to meet our greenhouse gas reduction targets. The construction of motorway infrastructure and the massive use of polluting materials such as concrete are antithetical to measures to address the climate emergency.

Our organization encourages officials to design good plans for health, environment, mobility and public finance. Plan 3^e The currently proposed motorway link does not meet any of these conditions.

At a time when many North American cities are eliminating their urban highways for the sake of public health and well-being, we urge your government to abandon the current highway tunnel project. Health of current population and future generations.

Frederic Dubinier Martin, Coordinator of the Association of Quebec Doctors for the Environment (AQME), Medical Resident in Public Health and Preventive Medicine, CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale and Doctors Group.

Other Signatories:

Frédéric Dubinier Martin, Coordinator of the Capitale-National Regional Committee of the Quebec Association of Doctors for the Environment (AQME), Medical Officer in Public Health and Preventive Medicine, CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale

Julie Boulanger, family physician, Clinic Miserets

Frédérike Frigon-Tremblay, family physician, GMF-U Maizerets

Thierry Arsenault, Resident Physician in Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Laval University

Bernard Fruteau de Laclos, Biochemist, CHU de Québec-Laval University

Charles Poissonnault, family physician, GMF-U Maizerets

Isabelle Poirier-Euel, family doctor, Clinique Maizerets

Pierre Auger, Physician, Regional Public Health Department of Capital-National

François Aubin, Doctor, CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale

Sarah Jean Pelletier, Clinical Specialist in Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Department of Public Health at Capital-National

Isabelle Goupil-Sormany, specialist in public health and preventive medicine at the CHU de Québec

Cécile Jeanmart, family doctor, GMF-U Maizerets

Marie-Claude Letellier, Expert in Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Cabinet

Catherine Trudel-Guy, Medical Student, Laval University

Emma Scott, MD, Laval University

Catherine Wolff, Clinical Resident in Public Health and Preventive Medicine, CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale

Nikolai Guzun, Medical Resident in Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Department of Public Health at Capital-National

Martin Lalinec-Michaud, Family Physician, CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale

Victoria Bernardo, Resident Physician in Psychiatry, CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale

Marianne Boisvert Moreau, Medical Resident in Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Laval University

Luc Bhérer, specialist in occupational medicine, CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale

Mariajka Beauregard, Specialist in Public Health and Preventive Medicine, CHU de Québec

Slim Haddad, Public Health Physician, CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale

Marilee Samson, Psychiatrist, Laval Hospital

Real Morin, physician, National Institute of Public Health of Quebec

Caroline Laberge, Family Physician, CIUSSS Capitale Nationale, GMFU Laurier

Isabelle Collin, Family Physician, Medical Assistant, GMF-U Laurier and HSFA-Hospital

Helen Landry, Family Physician, GMF-U Laurier

Marie-Odil Gilbert, Family Physician (Midwife), GMF-U Laurier and CHUL

Dominique Deschênes, family physician, GMF-U Laurier

Soufiane Bensaidane, MD, GMF-U Laurier

Anne-Frédérique Lambert-Slythe, Doctor, CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale

Johanne Elsener, Veterinarian, Health Urban