The mayor of Lévis denies having wanted to sow consternation, last Friday, by announcing his intention to acquire half of the Rabaska lands coveted by the Port of Quebec. In an open letter shared on Tuesday, Gilles Lehouillier maintains that the purchase of land is part of his duty to serve the interests of his population and the ambitions of his city.
“The acquisition by the City of Lévis of part of the land belonging to the Rabaska limited partnership is essential,” wrote the mayor straight away. These lands, he adds, are spread over 271 hectares, or “three times the size of the Plains of Abraham”, and it was important to “maintain control” of these “strategic lots located to the east of its territory. »
The City has acted swiftly in this file, convening at 24 hours’ notice last week a special meeting of the municipal council with a single issue on the agenda: the “acquisition by expropriation” of half of the lands of Rabaska, a resolution easily adopted by a council composed almost entirely of allies of the mayor, with two exceptions from the opposition.
The outcome of the extraordinary meeting raised an outcry, notably from the Port of Quebec, which the same day decried “a sudden, unilateral and incomprehensible gesture”. Cramped on the north shore of the river, the Port had already announced its intention to acquire all of Rabaska’s lands by the end of the year. According to the port authority, Lévis’ decision “threatens to plunge the development of the sector into years of immobility. »
On Tuesday, the mayor set the record straight and let it be known that he heard it with another ear. “My first responsibility as mayor of the City of Lévis is to protect the interests of my population,” underlines Gilles Lehouillier. I want to ensure the development of our territory in line with the ambitions of Lévisiennes and Lévisiens. […] To this end, the land acquired will be used to create a land reserve, protect municipal heritage and ensure financial sustainability for the City. »
Lévis and its mayor expect significant benefits from the inclusion of the Davie shipyard in the national shipbuilding strategy. Gilles Lehouillier has repeatedly said that the maritime industry will become for the Quebec region what the aerospace sector already is in Montreal.
The creation of an industrial cluster around the naval economy will require land located near the Davie shipyard. Recently returned from a business mission to France, the mayor of Lévis noted that 75% of suppliers gravitate near shipyards in Europe.
Gilles Lehouillier took note of this and has since repeated this observation several times in public. The mayor did not specify his intention regarding the Rabaska lands, noting in his letter that “the uses that will be determined and authorized on the site will be subject to consultation with the population of Lévis. »
The acquisition of land by the Port of Quebec would place it under federal control. The mayor wanted to avoid losing control of these lands. “Faced with the need to protect the public interest and the City’s powers of intervention in land use planning, the Lévis municipal council had no choice but to initiate procedures leading to the acquisition of part of the land”, writes Gilles Lehouillier.
The latter denies having acted on the sly and having placed anyone in front of a fait accompli. In his letter, he insists that “the decision to acquire 50% of the surface area of the Rabaska lands is the result of a long process” which began last September and that on several occasions he repeated his intentions, in particular Premier François Legault and Ministers Bernard Drainville and Martine Biron.
Last April, Lévis again signaled its intention and requested a return “no later than June 2, 2023.”
The lands of Rabaska once belonged to agricultural territory before changing zoning to accommodate an LNG port. Despite the abandonment of the latter in 2013 following a major popular mobilization, the land has never since returned to its original agricultural zoning.