Montrealers are asked to observe Earth Hour on March 28

As part of international Earth Hour being held on March 28 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Montreal executive committee members Alan De Sousa and Marvin Rotrand are asking residents to turn out their lights for 60 minutes and participate in a series of unique and original artistic happenings. "On Saturday, March 28, the whole world will turn off its lights for one hour," says De Sousa, the Montreal executive committee member responsible for sustainable development. "Our city will actively participate in this international effort to enhance awareness of climate change, notably by switching off the lights in several municipal buildings. "I would like to ask all Montrealers to also take part in this simple and clearly targeted gesture demonstrating that together, we can make a difference in the effort to address climate change," adds De Souza. WWF-Canada and the bleublancrouge advertising agency are organizing a series of artistic happenings, which will be taking place in the dark at the Société des arts technologiques at 1195 St. Laurent. "Artists, painters and graphic designers will spend one hour in the darkness creating an original group work dedicated to humanity's role on earth," says Rotrand, the city councillor for Snowdon and a member of the Côte-des-Neiges-NDG borough council. "At the same time, a brainstorming session of architects and urban designers will also take place without light, to achieve consensus on three concrete initiatives to be carried out within a year," he adds. "As well, there will be music performances by several Montreal-area bands. Finally, documents, photos and videos produced during this event will be posted on Facebook—and will only be readable with all the lights out."

According to Dr. Keith Stewart of WWF-Canada, addressing climate change is the most critical environmental issue facing the planet. "Earth Hour is a celebration of those gestures that each of us is personally prepared to make for the planet," he says. "It is also an opportunity for citizens to send a clear message to the world's leaders that we want to take action and must take action on climate change. Our collective actions can now change the course of history and safeguard our planet’s future."

Earth Hour was first held on March 31, 2007 in Sydney, Australia. Sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, an estimated 2.2 million people and 2,000 businesses took part. In all, 57 per cent of Sydney's population participated. A measuring of electricity consumption in Sydney during the hour indicated it went down by 10.2 per cent, the city's greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by 25,000 tonnes, and citizens were made more aware of the global warming issue.