The Canadian climate community lost an organizational giant and a beloved friend and colleague March 18 when Matthew Chapman died suddenly in Montreal at age 40.
Matt worked with Climate Reality Project Canada (CRPC) for just over eight years as national campaigns coordinator, then regional organizer for West Quebec, and more recently taught music part-time with Montreal’s Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys. His LinkedIn profile, in Matt’s own, unmistakable style, lists him as a “permanent, full-time” husband and father with “Future Generations Inc.”
“Anyone who had the privilege of crossing paths with Matt can attest to his contagious and positive energy, his humour, his kindness, and his wit,” the Climate Reality Canada team wrote in an email to supporters. “Profoundly compassionate, generous, and caring, Matt made everything brighter and lighter wherever he went, and truly made the world a better place.”
The email recalled Matt building CRPC’s successful Climate Community Hubs program from the ground up, along with one of the organization’s signature programs, the annual National Climate League standings.
“We mourn the loss of a colleague and pillar of the organization, a visionary, and a friend,” CRPC wrote. “Our hearts are with Matt’s family, his wife Véro and two daughters Adeline and Flora, as well as everyone who, just like us, followed Matt into the exciting endeavours his brilliant—and at times rebellious!—mind conjured.”
Matt’s obituary recalls him “excelling as a trampolinist, an entrepreneur, a versatile musician, and a dedicated educator” whose life and work experiences brought him to Zanzibar, Hong Kong, Egypt, and Colombia. “His dreams extended beyond himself as he tirelessly worked to protect the environment, envisioning a world free from greed and inequality.”
Audrey Dépault, now a senior advisor at Tesla Canada, was executive director of Climate Reality Canada when Matt first “showed up unannounced” at the CRPC office on behalf of the Montreal Climate Coalition. “I don’t remember the specific ask, but I do remember the impression he left; I could tell right away that he was ambitious, polite, and positive and wouldn’t take no for an answer,” she recalled on Matt’s EverLoved page.
“Matthew was the light that shone the brightest, wherever he went,” Dépault wrote. “He was a convener, a friend, and a teacher to all of us in the climate movement. He was one of the best listeners I’ve ever met,” always recording ideas and inspirations in his “teeny-tiny notebooks”.
“It’s hard to even fathom how many lives you’ve touched, and what the grassroots climate movement would be without you,” said former CRPC operations director Émilie Campbell-Renaud, in a post addressed to Matt. “I’ve often thought to myself that the world needs more Matthew Chapmans; instead, we’re one down. I’m heartbroken. But I’ll never forget you, friend.”
“I still don’t realize that this is happening, to me Matt was immortal,” wrote Climate Reality Canada Executive Director André-Yanne Parent. “He is already missed dearly. We will continue to celebrate Matt’s legacy and try, humbly, to keep up the incredible work he started.”
Since sharing “this saddest news,” Parent added, “I’ve received hundreds of testimonies from all parts of the world expressing how Matt has touched their lives and how they cherish the time they had with him. I’m in awe to witness his deep impact on so many of us.” She invited everyone to share their “beautiful stories” of Matt so that his daughters Adeline and Flora can read them when they’re older.
“Sometimes I honestly wonder if we only have so much goodness to put out into this world, and when we use it up, our time on this Earth is over,” wrote Climate Reality leader Todd Barsanti, in another post addressed to Matt. “The best of us are gone way too soon and the world is just left with the rest of us…” Barsanti recalled Matt making a trip across town by subway “just so that you could give me five minutes of your crazy, inspiring day,” and thanked him “for every moment I got to be in your space.”
As everyone else is saying so much better—Matt’s smile was as wide as the sky, his heart was as big as the universe, and he had a way of making everyone feel they had a place in this fight, in this community—not by declaring it, but by showing it. I don’t think I’ll ever really accept that we have to start writing about him in the past tense.
If you knew Matt, or even if you didn’t, please consider clicking through to the GoFundMe page for his young family. Climate Reality Project Canada is also calling for donations to the Montreal Climate Coalition, an organization that “held a special place” in that big, big heart of his.
