François Legault is not the first to complain about the difficulty of carrying out major projects in today’s Quebec.
Lucien Bouchard also deplored it in 2006, when an outcry prevented the relocation of the casino from Notre-Dame Island to a complex located in the Peel Basin area, which would also have housed a hotel and a Cirque du Soleil performance hall.
Community organizations from the Sud-Ouest borough in Montreal, supported by a petition signed by half of the adult residents of Pointe-Saint-Charles, were concerned about the dangers of such a project in an area where a woman lived. vulnerable clientele. Concerned about its image, Cirque du Soleil decided to withdraw, to the great dismay of Loto-Québec and the Charest government.
Nearly ten years later, Denis Coderre, who had since become mayor of Montreal, declared that he was still “ashamed” of the failure of 2006. He wanted to “replace that” by inviting the president of Cirque du Soleil, Guy Laliberté , to carry out its Pangea funeral complex project on Sainte-Hélène Island.
This time, it was opposition to the construction of the Northvolt battery factory which caused the exit of Prime Minister Legault. “When I watch certain people criticize economic development projects in Quebec without nuance, it makes me sad,” he declared, adding that with this “kind of attitude, the hydroelectric development of James Bay would have been impossible “.
If it can console Mr. Legault, Quebec does not have a monopoly on this “kind of attitude”, which seems to be a defect in his eyes, but which is very widespread in the West. Thus, in Germany, which has never had the reputation of being a country allergic to technological progress, major projects encounter exactly the same problems as here.
Last fall, a referendum had to be held in a village in Bavaria to allow BMW to set up an electric battery factory there which will employ 3,200 people, even though the village currently has 2,700 inhabitants.
Opponents deplored the destruction of 100 hectares of prime arable land, which they considered to be a serious mistake in the context of climate change. This did not prevent 75% of the inhabitants of Strasskirchen from giving their agreement to the project.
BMW deplored “a clear reluctance to create industrial sites in Germany” precisely at the time when the energy transition required it. So much so that the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, felt the need to propose a “German pact”, which would make his country more welcoming to projects that might otherwise be carried out elsewhere.
Mr. Legault gives the impression of holding those who are worried about the damage that the Northvolt plant project will cause to the environment as crazy people who understand nothing about the energy transition, but the same causes generally produce the same effects. . In Hungary, which Viktor Orbán wants to transform into “a great battery power”, environmentalists are also on a war footing.
You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. Whether we like it or not, freeing ourselves from fossil fuels also has a cost, even if it is lower. Thanks to hydroelectricity, Quebec can boast of being the place in North America with the lowest GHG emissions per capita, but the construction of the James Bay complex required flooding forever more than 10,000 square kilometers of boreal forest.
No matter the project, there will always be those who contest its merits, rightly or wrongly. Mr. Legault sincerely believes in the Northvolt project and the bright future that the battery industry has in store for Quebec. It may very well be that he is right and that the McMasterville site is the most suitable, despite the disadvantages it entails. Rather than whining and denigrating opponents, he should focus on demonstrating that the benefits win out.
It would be more convincing if his government had not given the impression of having secretly changed the rules of the game to allow the Swedish company to evade a BAPE examination, before presenting the population with a fait accompli .
The assessment of the main government spokespersons on this issue, Pierre Fitzgibbon (Economy, Energy) and Benoit Charette (Environment), was not likely to allay distrust. Since entering politics, Mr. Fitzgibbon has acquired a solid reputation for cutting corners, while many consider Mr. Charette a rug.
“If people don’t want the project, there won’t be a project,” Mr. Fitzgibbon said. Fine, just ask him. This is what we did in Germany, where we deplored this “kind of attitude”, and she said yes.