Lawyers from Lac-Mégantic and neighboring municipalities are turning to a court to “suspend” and then “cancel” the expropriations of 42 properties. A request for an injunction will be filed by the end of the month to prevent the land from being seized for the construction of the railway which is to leave the railway line in downtown Lac-Mégantic.
“The fire has been fanned in the last few days,” said one of the lawyers for the owners affected by the expropriations, Mr.e Frédéric Paré, at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. ” […] The decision is premature. There is still no decision from the Canadian Transportation Agency. »
The expropriated citizens were warned on June 14 that Ottawa “will take physical possession of the parcels of land necessary for the project on June 1er august “.
“We put aside the laws,” argued Ms.e Ready. “The law says 90 days [pour pouvoir contester une expropriation], but the government says the 90 days do not apply in this case. For what ? We don’t have the answer. […] We do not understand this haste to act. »
The injunction will be filed “by early July” in Federal Court. About half of the 40 or so affected owners will take part in this injunction request, according to the lawyers on file.
The “public interest” must justify any expropriation according to federal law, argue the latter. However, it is a private interest, the Canadian Pacific company, which will become the owner of this bypass. This appearance of inconsistency leads one of the lawyers to say, Mr.e Jean-Claude Boutin, that “this is the first time that laws have been treated with such casualness”.
Gaby Gendron, Mayor of Frontenac, was present at the press conference. He reiterated his rejection of any new railway lines in his municipality. “For the municipality of Frontenac, given the irreparable damage to the environment, we do not want a bypass on the territory of Frontenac. »
The city councils of Nantes and Frontenac have already spoken out against the project.
The total bill for the bypass is at least $300 million, according to the federal budget, but the total amount remains unknown. Ottawa has agreed to finance 60% of the construction costs and Quebec, 40%. The Canadian Pacific will then become the owner of this bypass.