The government formalizes the purchase of Rabaska land, located east of Lévis, with a view to converting part of it into a “thematic” industrial zone. The transaction, made at a cost of $38 million, provides for the return of 109 hectares to the agricultural fold.
“We have just formally approved the acquisition of the Rabaska land,” said the Minister of the Economy and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, at the end of the council of ministers. We will work with the City of Lévis and the Port of Quebec to see how we can organize the land to allow […] collective wealth. »
Rabaska’s lands total 272 hectares which face the south coast of Île d’Orléans. Excluded by decree from the green zone in 2007 to make way for a now abandoned LNG port project, they aroused the desire of the City of Lévis and the Port of Quebec, both lacking space to develop.
The Union of Agricultural Producers demanded the return of all of the land to the agricultural zone. The government has, however, “found a good balance between the industrial vocation and the agricultural vocation,” according to the Minister of Education and Member of Parliament for Lévis, Bernard Drainville.
“It has enormous economic potential,” he added. The maritime industry is on the rise in Lévis, where the inclusion of the Davie shipyard in the National Shipbuilding Strategy raises hopes of seeing the birth of an industrial cluster that the mayor, Gilles Lehouillier, dreams of as important as aerospace to Montreal.
The Rabaska lands, bordering the river, include certain sections located in deep water. Minister Fitzgibbon, on Wednesday, did not rule out the construction of a wharf to meet the ambitions of the Port of Quebec.
Before establishing an industrial park whose “theme” remains to be defined, it will first be necessary to build transmission lines on these lands “where there is nothing”, explained Minister Fitzgibbon.
“It could take two or three years to build them – if there are plans. » For the moment, no one has expressed the desire to put down roots on the land of Rabaska, but Pierre Fitzgibbon believes that “this territory is becoming very interesting” at a time when there is a lack of space to accommodate industrial projects.
“There is the sector [des] battery[s] in Bécancour but we are starting to run out of space. There are other sectors too: if there was an aluminum transformer, for example, I would be interested. »
However, it is not just space that is lacking: energy too. The minister who oversees the economy and energy in the government calculates that the pending projects require “around 12,000 MW” – electricity that Quebec does not have, according to the minister.
With François Carabin