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LONGUEUIL — Discouraged by what he called the apathy and inaction of the New Democratic Party in the fight against climate change, Longueuil–Saint-Hubert MP Pierre Nantel announced Monday he is joining the Green Party.

The MP, who was part of the wave of NDP MPs elected in Quebec in 2011, made the announcement in his riding along Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and deputy leader Daniel Green.

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“This act, which could seem like a stunt, was necessary because I think we must bring the climate crisis into our consciousness,” Nantel said. “I find that the subject is too often trivialized by politicians in particular.”

The Green Party had already chosen a candidate to run in the riding, Casandra Poitras, but she agreed to give up that riding and will become a candidate instead in a neighbouring one on the South Shore.

Nantel was one of the NDP’s most visible MPs. When the party discovered Friday that he was in discussions with the Green Party, it expelled him from the party and cancelled his nomination as the party’s candidate in the riding.