Residents of a Mauricie village angry at a megaproject of 140 wind turbines that could come to their corner of paradise denounce the sale of Quebec at a discount to the private sector.
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“It was never in the CAQ’s electoral program to invade us with wind turbines,” breathes Jean Guilbert, a dairy producer from Saint-Maurice, who refuses to see TES Canada wind turbines popping up very close to his home.
“We are in the process of selling Quebec to big companies who will come and invade us to have electricity at a good price,” sighs the man, not taking his eyes off a pan of maple syrup, which is crackling in the bottom of the building where it receives The newspaper.
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Four months ago, TES Canada presented the green hydrogen “Project Mauricie”, which wants to supply itself with energy with its own 1 GW (1000 megawatt) wind and solar farm. (see other text), but already a wind of anger seems to have entered the cottages.
In Saint-Maurice, Jean Guilbert brings The newspaper at the entrance to his municipality of barely 3,000 souls to show a sign that he has just planted to alert his fellow citizens.
“No to privatization”, we can read, with a red acronym which opposes wind turbines in “inhabited areas”. He who sows the wind reaps the storm, turbine opponents warn.
“In the fall and spring, we have spectacles of snow geese and barnacles migrating into the fields here. Imagine with 200 meter wind turbines. They will suffer,” says Jean Guilbert, who is angry with the current government.
TES estimates the height of the towers at around 120 meters and the blades at 80 meters, for a total of 200 meters. In comparison, Place Ville-Marie, in the heart of the metropolis, is just over 188 meters tall.
The Journal went to Mauricie to meet farmers who have difficulty seeing the relevance of TES Canada’s wind turbine project.
Photo Francis Halin
Crushed by a “big corporation»
A stone’s throw from him, Mathieu Ferragne, who has just left Montreal to enjoy the tranquility of Les Chenaux county, does not mince his words about the project, which makes people cringe.
“Hydro-Québec would never deliberately put this near us, but the project here is private,” he denounces.
“I feel attacked, crushed by a “big corporation” which is ready to destroy everything for its own profit and its own interests,” he sighs.
In the heart of the village, at the entrance to Bonichoix, Stéphane Poirier, zamboni driver, resident of Saint-Maurice, also does not look favorably on the arrival of the wind turbines of anger.
“We are going to destroy arable land that we have managed to gain. It’s not a gain anywhere,” he denounces.
Stéphane Poirier, who lives in Saint-Maurice, says that many farmers refuse wind turbines and that others who accept them do so anonymously to avoid arguments from neighbors.
Photo Francis Halin
No pressure
25 kilometers away, a few rows further, in Saint-Stanislas, dairy producer Frédéric Jacob tells Newspaper that representatives from TES Canada came to his home to offer to install wind turbines.
Frédéric Jacob says that the people at TES who have approached him have been friendly, but that he does not have enough details to sign the agreement in its current form.
Photo Francis Halin
“They came to see me. I didn’t feel any pressure from them, even a certain detachment,” he says, walking around his stable.
“Cows are hypersensitive to stray voltages,” he says, pointing to the field where TES wants to plant its two towers.
At Newspaper, Frédéric Jacob says he is not against wind turbines per se, but that at this stage the project is still too vague for his taste.
Dairy producer Frédéric Jacob fears for the health of his animals.
Photo Francis Halin
“It’s like signing a contract with a fox who tells you: ‘No, there will be no feathers, no blood, don’t worry’,” he imagines.
“TES Canada are in public relations. They are not into information and technical details. In the current form, I’m not signing anything, that’s for sure,” he concludes.
–With the collaboration of Marie Christine Trottier
Last year, The newspaper asked the Ministry of the Environment for documents from the last five years relating to the effects of wind turbines on human and animal health. Studies on bats, golden eagles and peregrine falcons were provided in response to this request for access to information.