Just before Earth Day in 2019, a group of young Quebecers gathered in the Old Montreal offices of a top law firm to announce they were suing the federal government for climate negligence.

All then under the age of 35, the plaintiffs accused elected officials of mortgaging their futures by failing to live up to Canada’s commitments under the Paris Accord.

The suit, which sought damages for younger generations who will bear the disproportionate burden of a warming planet, was a Canadian first. It followed a new path being set in the U.S. and around the world by young people seeking legal remedies to force their governments to address the emergency.

But for the most part, the courts have so far declined to intervene.

Quebec Superior Court refused to certify the class-action attempt launched that day six years ago in Montreal.

The Quebec Court of Appeal later said it wasn’t its job to tell legislators what to do and dismissed the charge of discrimination on the basis of age.

The Supreme Court of Canada eventually decided not to even hear the case.

Courts in the U.S., Ontario and

© Montreal Gazette