Are we about to witness a modern-day gold rush in Quebec?
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Some wonder about the enthusiasm shown by the mining industry for strategic minerals, which are present in large quantities in the subsoil of our province.
And this enthusiasm is boosted, as we know, by the efforts made by the Government of Quebec to “value” these minerals. We are looking to develop an electric battery sector here.
We have, in these pages, welcomed this initiative because of its potential for the economic development of Quebec and its importance for the energy transition, essential to the fight against climate change.
Now that the train is running, it’s important to make sure it stays on the tracks. While limiting the damage it could do where it will pass.
The time has come to seriously and transparently debate the environmental costs of establishing this sector and to find the means to reduce them to their simplest expression.
The CAQ must seriously concern itself with the discontent and concerns of residents in the face of the upheavals heralded by this mining boom.
A few days ago, 21 municipalities in the Outaouais region (from the MRC Papineau) launched an offensive against what they call the “invasion” of their territory by the “graphite mining industry”.
It is one of the strategic minerals used in electric car batteries. And we find them in large quantities in the Outaouais, but also in the Laurentians and in Lanaudière.
We understand that the consequences of a mining boom in these regions of southern Quebec could be major (in the MRC of Papineau, some are already worried about the fate of lakes and waterways).
Everything must be done to protect our ecosystems and limit the impact on the quality of life of the inhabitants of these regions.
It would not be logical, to promote the electrification of transport here as elsewhere and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to end up sacrificing parts of our territory and threatening ecosystems.
It should be noted that this debate comes in the wake of new revelations about the environmental scandal at the Horne Foundry in Rouyn-Noranda, which has certainly helped to raise awareness a little more.
A Léger poll released on August 3 shows that a majority of Quebecers believe that the mining industry and the Quebec government are not doing enough to protect the environment.
And many Quebecers obviously want the mining industry to be better restrained by the government.
As proof: 79% of respondents believe that health and the environment should be prioritized over the economy, “even if this means that some mining projects will have to cease operations”.
The survey, conducted at the request of the Coalition Québec Better Mine and a handful of partners, also indicates that 89% of Quebecers would like to prevent the industry from dumping mining waste “into any lake, river or sensitive ecological environment”. while 86% would like to “require that all mining and expansion projects be subject to environmental assessments”.
Another damn good reason to discuss the new mining boom as soon as possible is that the Department of the Environment’s record is notoriously weak when it comes to fulfilling its mission in this sector — as in others, Alas.
It has been repeated – with good reason – for many years, but a short essay by the former journalist of the To have toLouis-Gilles Francœur (ex-vice-president of the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment), recently came to put flesh on the bone, in particular by analyzing the budgets of the Ministry since its creation and by putting them into context*.
The Ministry of the Environment “cannot manage to impose its authority and its policies on economic ministries and their clienteles”, and that is not surprising, he concludes.
As a junior ministry in budgetary terms, the Ministry of the Environment is also relegated to the background of economic policies in the mining sector.
Louis-Gilles Francœur, former Vice-President of the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment
The experts will also tell you, at the same time, that our legislative arsenal is not up to the challenge posed by the impacts of the development of an electric battery sector.
Message to the political formations which are about to offer us tons of ideas to improve our public policies before the next election: the hidden face of the mining boom deserves to be explored.
* The green deposit, by Louis-Gilles Francœur, with the collaboration of Jonathan Ramacieri. Published by Éditions Écosociété.