VICTORIAVILLE, Que. - Quebec's Opposition party was busy drawing up its environmental plan on Saturday at a weekend general meeting in Victoriaville, Que., northeast of Montreal.
When it comes to the environment, Quebecers must break away from the perpetual "inactivity" of the Liberals and Parti Quebecois, Dumont said.
"The ADQ is a party of action and results," he said during his opening speech to supporters.
"And on the matter of environment, what we need in Quebec is action and results."
Dumont said Premier Jean Charest's government is negligent and has left Quebec lagging behind its neighbours.
The ADQ aims to unveil a green plan more ambitious than that of the Liberal government.
On Saturday, conference delegates adopted a resolution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent from 1990 levels before 2012.
Party members voted in favour of strict vehicle emission standards similar to those in California, an inspection program for used vehicles, private participation in public transport and a high-speed train for the Quebec City-Windsor, Ont. corridor.
But the ADQ was not prepared to discuss how it would pay for the environmentally-friendly wish list.
"Presently, we have not come to the numbers, but it is important to make the environment a priority," said ADQ environment critic Simon-Pierre Diamond.
Diamond admitted some of the proposed measures would "cost a lot."
This was the first general meeting since the ADQ surged into Opposition in the spring election.
The 500 delegates at Saturday's conference more than doubled the turnout of the ADQ's last general meeting before the election.
In Quebec's national assembly, the ADQ has 41 seats, the Liberal Party has 48 and the PQ has 36 representatives.
The ADQ's rise shattered the province's two-party system, which had pitted federalists against sovereigntists since the 1970s.
Meanwhile, Dumont's populist party also attracted a prominent ex-separatist to the ADQ fold on Saturday.
Andre Caille, the former president of provincial utility Hydro-Quebec, hinted at flying the party colours in a future election.
"I have a lot of admiration for Mario Dumont," Caille told reporters.
