Children present council with generations chair

A wonderful event took place yesterday afternoon in the municipal council room: grade 5 and 6 francophone students from Sutton School, accompanied for the occasion by the grade 4 class, came to officially present a “Generations Chair” to the members of the municipal council, asking them to consider the place of future generations in their environmental decision-making.

The concept of the Generations Chair was launched by the Les Mères au front movement, and 60 municipalities in Quebec have already joined the movement by hosting a chair in their council rooms.

In Sutton, the Generations Chair is the fruit of a fine joint achievement: writer Marie Clark, a member of Les Mères au front, initiated the project and contributed to its poetic dimension, while councillor and artist Carole Lebel crafted the chair, drawing inspiration from Sutton’s environmental issues to give it the symbolic shape of a drop of water. Last but not least, grade 5 and 6 students from Sutton School, accompanied by their teacher Claudia Hodge, took responsibility for the project and wrote messages of hope, but also of warning, addressed to current and future elected officials.

Listen to some of their speeches: video1 + video2 + video3

Le maire Robert Benoît, les conseillères et conseiller présents, Lynda Graham, Thérèse Leclerc, Marie-José Auclair, Carole Lebel et Marc-André Blain, ont accueilli la chaise et les enfants avec fierté et respect. Ils ont ajouté leur signature à celle des élèves, pour qu’elles restent sur la chaise des générations en signe d’engagement pour le futur.

Remerciements à Mikaël Theimer pour les photos