(Rouyn-Noranda) Without ruling out the holding of a referendum, François Legault urges the people of Rouyn-Noranda to make a decision “as soon as possible”: accept an “improved” plan from the multinational Glencore or close the Horne Foundry. The CAQ leader maintains that he would agree to live near the factory with arsenic emissions of 15 nanograms per cubic meter of air, a threshold five times higher than the standard.
Posted at 2:27 p.m.
Updated at 4:59 p.m.
“Personally, that would satisfy me. On the other hand, it is not up to me to make the decision, it is up to the citizens of Rouyn-Noranda, ”he said during a brief press scrum on Thursday. The duration of its press activities is getting shorter day by day.
After getting carried away in an interview with the local Radio-Canada station, François Legault met behind closed doors the members of the municipal council of Rouyn-Noranda in the company of his candidate, the former Liberal MP Daniel Bernard, himself councilor from the city. City officials did not respond to reporters’ questions.
On the other hand, according to the city’s “communication lines” prepared for this meeting and consulted by The Press, the municipal council believes that “we feel that the Foundry’s proposal has difficulty passing” among the population. The City “expects a more ambitious plan”. “What we deplore is that nowhere are we aiming to reach the standards” of 3 nanograms of arsenic per cubic meter of air. “Let’s be ambitious! We must aim for the standards, ”we can read.
But François Legault repeated that it is technically “impossible to go to 3 nanograms”. According to the City, the company told him that it is still possible to go below 15 nanograms. However, its current plan aims to reach this target of 15 nanograms within five years, which the government approves.
“At 15 nanograms, Public Health says it’s acceptable,” argued François Legault. Public Health specifically states that it is acceptable as an “intermediate step towards achieving the standard” of 3 nanograms. No timeline is included in Glencore’s plan or Quebec’s intentions to meet the standard.
If he is re-elected, François Legault says he wants, along with the City, to continue to negotiate with Glencore “because there are still unanswered questions, including on the buffer zone and what would happen with the compensation that would be paid to individuals who would be forced to leave a buffer zone”.
“We all want to make sure that we have gone as far as possible with the company to reduce emissions as low as possible and as quickly as possible. Once we have all made sure with the citizens and the representatives of the citizens that we have gone as far as possible with the company, there will be a decision to be made. Do we close the factory or accept the company’s improved final proposal? “, explained Mr. Legault during a short scrum of the press in front of the town hall, while a few members of the group Mothers at the front demonstrated nearby.
The decision should not be long in coming, according to the chief caquiste. “It must not last too long,” he insisted, while saying he was worried about the impact of this issue on the “attractiveness” of the region. He hinted that the workers could be compensated if the smelter closed.
He intends to prepare “consultation scenarios”. He suggests that the elected municipal officials and the future deputy of the constituency would be responsible for deciding, but he does not rule out the holding of a referendum.
“This will be an important, critical decision for Rouyn-Noranda. […] The elected officials who represent the citizens of the area must be involved and we must ensure that we have the pulse of the population and that it does not last too long. “. “I’m not ruling anything out for now,” including holding a referendum.
He then went to meet the CAQ activists in a restaurant, where demonstrators were waiting for him. Among them, the D.r Frédéric Bonin, of the Medical Initiative for Action Against Environmental Toxicity (IMPACTE). “Mr. Legault makes political decisions for the third link, I cannot believe that Mr. Legault is not capable of making a political decision for the protection of the health of citizens. In Rouyn-Noranda, a citizen is worth as much as a citizen elsewhere in Quebec. The protection of our health is important, ”he said, recalling the importance for him of respecting the standard.
For Émilie Robert, of Mères au front, “the scarecrow of closure is Mr. Legault who has been brandishing it from the start. Glencore has not spoken of closing […] We think it is possible to reduce emissions” to reach the standard of 3 nanograms. Otherwise, “it means that we will sacrifice” the children, she said, recalling the health risks of arsenic emissions. “We have immense concern, guilt too. We exposed our children to that, ”she dropped.
Passing through Laval, the co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire (QS), Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, said that the holding of a referendum on the closure of the Horne Foundry, “that has no relation”.
“The debate is not whether it is necessary [fermer] the Horne Foundry. The debate is [si] finally a government after 40 years of letting go will ask this multinational to respect people’s health, ”he said.
With Hugo Pilon-Larose, The Press