The new Canadian Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, refuses to comment on the third link project between Quebec and Lévis. However, he promises that a federal environmental assessment will be conducted to study this road link, as provided for in the legislation.
“It is not in the context of a conversation on the corner of the table that we will decide whether, from an ecological point of view, it is a good or a bad project”, argued the Minister. Guilbeault, as part of a press briefing held Friday morning before his departure for the 26th United Nations Climate Conference (COP26).
Even if he refuses for the moment to comment on this new road axis designed primarily to facilitate automobile transport, he recalled that the project will be subject to a federal evaluation process conducted under the aegis of the Agency. Canada’s Impact Assessment (AEIC). “This project, when it is presented to the federal government, which is not yet the case, will be subject to an impact assessment”, assured Mr. Guilbeault.
This process is also mandatory, since the tunnel would cross the St. Lawrence River, a watercourse under federal jurisdiction. “It’s a project that crosses one of the largest waterways in the country. It is therefore clear that there will be a federal impact assessment on the project. This assessment will shed light on the ecological nature, or not, of this project. “
During the election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised several caveats in connection with the realization of this flagship project of the Caquist government of François Legault. “We will be there to listen, but the reality is that we are very concerned about the environmental issue and very aware of the issues of social acceptability of the third link,” he argued. “As I said, for the public transport component, there is an interest in seeing what we could do. But we are not going to make a final decision before receiving a final project, ”added the Liberal leader.
The CAQ defends itself
Thursday, a few days before the start of the 26th United Nations climate conference (COP26), François Legault again defended the road link project between Quebec and Lévis. According to him, Quebec will not have to be embarrassed to talk about this project within the framework of the most important climate summit since the signing of the Paris Agreement on the climate.
“I don’t think we have any embarrassment to have,” he commented during question period at the National Assembly, admitting however that “there are things that are not not in line with environmental »objectives.
Its Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, for his part compared the construction of the third link to the construction of a hospital or a school. “If the question is asked, I speak without embarrassment with you, so I will speak without embarrassment there as well,” he said in the scrum before the question period.
“Every project has impacts,” said Mr. Charette, adding that the objective is to limit the consequences on the environment. “We build a school, there is inevitably an impact, we build a hospital, there is inevitably an impact, as soon as we build something, there is inevitably an environmental impact. He added that he would be surprised, however, to be questioned by his interlocutors on the third link.
Climate balance sheet and target
The transportation sector is the heavyweight in Quebec’s greenhouse gas emissions report, since it represents nearly 45% of all the province’s emissions. With the implementation of the Plan for a Green Economy presented in the fall of 2020, the Legault government hopes to reduce emissions by 37.5% by 2030, compared to 1990.
However, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) believes that limiting global warming to 1.5 ° C, the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement, will require reducing 50% GHG emissions by 2030 compared to 2010 level.
For Quebec, a 50% decline would mean reducing annual emissions to around 40 million tonnes (Mt) of GHGs. But the Legault government has closed the door to reaching such a target, judging that it could be damaging to the economy. It also does not intend to tax more polluting vehicles, such as sports utility vehicles (SUVs), which are more popular than ever in the province. With the current government target, emissions should instead reach around 54 Mt in 2030.