Posted at 1:00 p.m.
series of forgetfulness
Let’s watch, again or for the first time, the film Erin Brokovich in order to understand both the immensely harmful impact of industrial pollution on the health of a population, but also the political and financial shenanigans that are inevitably present in situations like that of the Horne Foundry. Minister Benoit Charette, therefore the government and Public Health, has established, politically, a monetary value on each of the future illnesses or deaths caused by the foundry, i.e. the socio-economic cost of not forcing the plant to quickly reduce its emissions to the level of the provincial standard or simply to shut down this extremely polluting industry.
Above all, the government will have forgotten to include in its calculations the cost of the value of health for the population of Rouyn-Noranda. All the related expenses, in the very long term, due to this pollution: stunted growth, cancers, kidney problems caused by heavy metals or any other illnesses directly linked to the activity of this foundry. The government has also forgotten to take into consideration the cost to the quality of life of citizens on a daily basis.
Marc Couturier, physician
too shy
We are too timid with these big polluters. What are we afraid of? The government must “put on its pants” and require the foundry to respect the standards. And public funds must not be used to subsidize the modernization of the factory: as a good citizen, it must invest.
Joanne Isabelle
A question of priority
The Horne Foundry is not the only one to have an agreement with our government, they are legion. The environment is not a priority for politicians and we are all in danger of catching cancers or other diseases caused by the discharges of these companies in the name of profit at all costs. The air, the water, the earth are the receptacles of these rejections. It is not because the smoke is white that it is not polluting. Hypocrisy, evasions, safeguarding jobs… everything is an excuse to smear the world in which we live.
Marc Begin
Disfiguring refineries
Six years ago, I decided to leave Montreal for Mont-Saint-Hilaire. I lived in the Pointe-aux-Trembles neighborhood because I worked there. On the day of my retirement, I put my house up for sale, I couldn’t stand the smells, the horrible chimneys and the monstrous industrial park that cut the city in two. Does it make sense in 2022 that refineries are located in a city the size of Montreal, that they disfigure it and pollute it to such an extent? In this district, lung problems are higher than the Montreal average and that’s not counting the ugliness that people have to deal with on a daily basis. How can a city like Montreal develop its eastern part when it is divided in this way?
Louise Lacasse, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Compromise
A very simple question: is it the company that has come to plant itself in a residential area or are it the citizens who have built themselves in the courtyard of the first? Would you live near the tar sands? Or, set up your bedroom next to a nightclub? Responsibilities are shared. This is not to absolve the company of its duties, but there must be compromises.
Michael Lasalle
Litle by litle
As the CAQ’s advertising campaign says that Mr. Legault is a man of decision, I strongly encourage him to decide to close this factory, which is slowly poisoning and killing its workers and their families. This whole saga is a shame for Quebecers. We must decide and act once and for all!
Renée Tremblay, Boisbriand
repeat the same mistakes
Throughout Quebec, residential and commercial neighborhoods are developing around heavy industries and quarries. To then realize that the quality of life is not that illustrated on the promoter’s prospectus: air quality, noise, blasting, dust, etc. When will there be a revision of urban planning rules in Quebec? It wouldn’t settle the cases already established, nor the toxic emissions from the Horne Foundry and other such cases, but at least we would stop repeating the same mistakes of impossible cohabitation.
Elsa Dufresne-Arbique
lose faith
Mine, my patience, has already expired a very long time ago. However, we are no longer in the era of great darkness. Today, information travels at breakneck speed and Richard Desjardins has been an excellent spokesperson for saying out loud what our governments have been trying to hide from voters for over 40 years. But today, although I am still concerned about the quality of our environment, I admit that my recycling efforts have not increased, having lost faith in our governments. As citizens, we make colossal efforts (reducing our consumption, properly managing recycling, using the compost bin, etc.), but if at the same time our governments allow companies to pollute more, admit that individual motivation takes a toll a blow !
Pierre Charron