(Quebec) Ottawa could not block the construction of a Quebec-Lévis tunnel and the Quebec government will go ahead regardless of the conclusions of the federal environmental study and even those of the BAPE assessment, says the Minister of ‘Environment, Benoit Charette.
Last week, his federal counterpart Steven Guilbeault announced that Ottawa will conduct its own environmental assessment of the tunnel project because it “crosses one of the largest waterways in the country.”
During a press scrum on Tuesday, Benoit Charette reiterated that this assessment is an “unnecessary duplication” which “will lead to delays”. Above all, he specified that, regardless of the results of this exercise, “the federal government could not ultimately prevent the construction of an infrastructure of this nature in Quebec”.
“The federal government has no authority over the construction of infrastructure in Quebec. So the federal government could issue an opinion, but the federal government has no jurisdiction over an infrastructure that must be developed on Quebec soil, ”said Mr. Charette, whose government is asking Ottawa to pay 40% of the bill for the project. estimated up to $ 10 billion.
The Minister argues that “if the federal government is worried about certain environmental issues”, it can be “reassured” by the fact that the Quebec environmental assessment will be complete and will cover “all aspects”.
The Ministry of Transport will provide its own environmental assessment, the BAPE will do its review, and the Ministry of the Environment will produce its own study.
The opinion of the BAPE could not stop the project, indicated Benoit Charette. “When it comes to infrastructure of this nature, environmental assessments are more about mitigating negative environmental impacts and not questioning the infrastructure or […] prevent its construction. These are evaluations which, depending on the results that will be communicated to us, will allow us to adjust certain ways of doing things to ensure that we have the minimum possible impact on the environment. ”