Following the purchase of 203 hectares of land from the Sisters of Charity by the Government of Quebec, I am half satisfied. First, let me thank Voix citoyenne for its mobilization and the signatories of a pro-agricultural park petition that was on the site of the National Assembly in the fall of 2019. As you know, the devil is in the details. In the excitement of the beautiful news, we listened religiously to the Sister Superior, who confirmed that the lands which are not included in the sale will be devoted to the construction of social housing. She tells us that it is part of the mission of the congregation to work to help people in need. This is worthy of the values I share, but why should half of 400 hectares of nourishing land be sacrificed to cover it with bitumen forever?
I would like to remind you that this ancestral heritage, which dates from the beginning of the colony, is zoned agricultural. In my own book, the City of Quebec has a duty to save the other 197 hectares to redistribute them to the population in the form of an eco-educational park and community gardens. I would like to reassure the Sisters of Charity by telling them that the territory of Quebec City can accommodate the construction of social housing without dezoning agricultural land. In the light of climate change which is progressing at breakneck speed and the war in Ukraine, we must keep the land of the Sisters of Charity under cultivation, because it will be used to feed the population, and this is also part of the mission of our elected officials.
To see in video