Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Montreal to demand action on climate change—one of the largest of about 250 such strikes planned across Canada. Companies including Indigo, Lush Cosmetics and Mountain Equipment Co-op encouraged their employees to join Friday’s marches. The Quebec government announced an $80-million fund for cleantech in response. The federal Liberals said if re-elected they would plant two billion trees. (CTV News, La Presse, CBC)

Talking point: As protests over climate change increase in both frequency and intensity, governments and businesses are announcing initiatives at a quickening pace. Last week, Toronto Mayor John Tory said the city should declare a “climate emergency.” On Monday, Quebec’s largest pension fund, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, promised to become carbon neutral by 2050. The unanimity of Friday’s marches—the leaders of the NDP, Greens and Liberals all marched today, as well as several Conservative MPs—masks growing and increasingly intense political conflicts over how to deal with the problem, and how urgently. A court challenge to the federal government’s carbon tax plan is ongoing. And at a pre-march meeting in Montreal, the preeminent youth climate activist Greta Thunberg told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau he isn’t doing enough.