(Montreal) Some residents of Lac-Mégantic will be expropriated to allow the construction of a railway bypass, the Government of Canada confirmed on Wednesday.
The announcement from federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra and Public Services and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek was released in a press release early in the evening.
“The expropriation, which was requested by Minister Alghabra in order to proceed with the acquisition of the plots of land necessary for the project, has been confirmed by Minister Jaczek,” the document reads.
The Government of Canada will take possession of the parcels of land necessary for the construction of the bypass on 1er august. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has informed affected owners of this measure.
PHOTO SPENCER COLBY, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra
“The owners will receive offers of compensation for their expropriated properties by 1er August 2023”, refers to the press release issued by Transport Canada.
The department also indicates that the Government of Canada has “attempted to reach an agreement with all of the owners affected” before starting the expropriation process.
“However, for various reasons, the Government of Canada was unable to sign deeds of sale with all the owners,” says Transport Canada, noting that the period for negotiations with the owners has been extended three times, from October 2021 to January 2023.
Today’s announcement has been well thought out. We understand that this can be difficult for some, but it is essential to the realization of this project which will allow trains to get out of downtown Lac-Mégantic. We will accompany the owners affected by the expropriation announcement throughout the process.
Excerpt from Omar Alghabra’s press release
On the night of July 5 to 6, 2013, a train carrying crude oil derailed and then exploded in downtown Lac-Mégantic, killing 47 people.
On April 15, a Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) train derailed on the same railway line as the one that crosses Lac-Mégantic on the other side of the border, in Maine, injuring three employees. .
Citizens “outraged”
The Coalition of Collateral Victims (CVC) of the Lac-Mégantic rail bypass said it was “outraged”, but “not surprised” by the federal government’s announcement.
Several citizens oppose the rail bypass project, for which the expropriation process was initiated in February. Some fear environmental impacts or for rail safety, while freight trains always “longer and faster”, according to them, cross the municipality.
“That we expropriate people and negatively affect families who lost loved ones in 2013 is a serious human tragedy created voluntarily and consciously by elected officials,” said the CVC in a statement released Wednesday evening.
The organization deplores the lack of social acceptability of the project, maintaining that it is a “purely political” initiative, which is made “to serve the commercial interests of Canadian Pacific and to improve the image of Transports Canada”.
The Coalition requests that additional studies be carried out to assess the impacts of the project on access to drinking water, as well as to “evaluate safer alternatives that would have much less environmental and human impact”.
“The CVC will use available legal avenues to end the project and prevent another tragedy. Transport Canada will then have to provide the documents, which it has always refused to share, despite repeated requests from owners and concerned citizens,” the organization said in the same press release.
The Union of Forest Producers of Southern Quebec (SPFSQ) and the Federation of the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA) Estrie also reacted negatively to the government’s announcement.
The two organizations say they receive “with amazement the decision of the Government of Canada to confirm the expropriation for the construction of a railway bypass of Lac-Mégantic, and this, without taking into account the many arguments presented during the public hearings”, can we read in a press release.
The SPFSQ and the UPA-Estrie also claim to “study their options” in collaboration with the CVC, as well as the municipalities of Frontenac and Nantes to oppose this measure.