The announcement of the construction of the Northvolt giga-battery factory was made with great fanfare. But behind the handshakes overflowing with enthusiasm between these industrial leaders and our politicians who are stingy with economic announcements lies a much less rosy reality. The Quebec government is ready to override neutral environmental assessment processes, thus endangering public health and environmental protection, to avoid any delays for the Norwegian giant. Because despite the branding » the world’s greenest battery, the manufacturing of cathodes and recycling of electric batteries from the Northvolt factory will involve heavy metal heating processes and, therefore, the release of nickel, lithium, manganese and other emissions. I pass.
I denounce a situation that seems intolerable to me in 2023: selling out public health and our environment for economic interests? To be part of an industrial race, an infinite search for profits and blind economic development, are we really ready, as a society, to grant all rights to a foreign company without at least submitting the project to the Office of Public Hearings? in environment (BAPE)? I say no and I hope that many of you will follow me!
The CAQ government seems to have decided not to submit the Northvolt project to a BAPE, whose mission is precisely to establish a dialogue with the population, to analyze the impacts on public health and the environment and to produce a report. to the public authorities concerned.
Can we, as Quebecers, in 2023, put our health and our environment at risk for economic imperatives? Are we ready to grant rights to companies to the detriment of our quality of life? Examples of this type of wild capitalism remaining unpunished are too numerous in Quebec. Let us take as examples the populations of Rouyn-Noranda, where the Horne Foundry ignores the limits of toxic arsenic emissions, subjecting the population to excessive risks of cancer, or the Port of Quebec which easily exceeds the standards of nickel emissions into the air, causing terrible harm to nearby citizens. There are plenty of examples of companies without a social conscience, but it is up to our provincial, federal and municipal governments to ensure compliance with national health and environmental standards.
By establishing itself in Quebec, Northvolt will benefit from a substantial subsidy of more than $7 billion financed from our collective taxes of our low-cost hydroelectricity, our transportation facilities and a workforce highly educated work thanks to a public education system. So, can we at least demand in return a minimum of respect for our health and our environment?
The process of establishing the Northvolt battery factory must be entirely subject to a BAPE. Otherwise, there is no social consensus; otherwise, the credibility of our entire society is undermined.
We are better than that. Our health and that of our children are worth more than still barely tangible promises of economic benefits.