A project to expand the Trois-Rivières industrial park, which would lead to the destruction of wetlands, is dividing the population. The city council is due to vote on Tuesday in a vote that could tip the scales in favor of the project, according to information gathered by The duty.
Located at the intersection of highways 40 and 55, this project aroused passions until the FestiVoix, at the end of the week, in the Mauritian capital. In concert on Saturday, the punk group Vulgaires Machins called on the population to demonstrate against the project, Tuesday evening, at Trois-Rivières city hall. A citizen’s rally is planned on the sidelines of the city council meeting.
This economic development project in an environmentally sensitive area has been in the cards of the municipality for almost a decade. As early as 2014, the City had obtained a certificate of authorization issued by the Government of Quebec to operate the land located near Carrefour 40-55. However, this certificate was issued before the amendment of the Environment Quality Act in 2017.
If one of the objectives of COP15 is to protect 30% of the territory while maximizing ecological connectivity, we cannot just postpone the reflection of “What are we going to protect to achieve this objective? ?”. Because, in ten years, we risk ending up with 30% of small pieces scattered here and there.
Within the municipal council of Trois-Rivières, the project is far from unanimous. The duty spoke with two municipal councillors, Pierre Montreuil and Pascale Albernhe-Lahaie, who have radically opposed visions on this subject.
According to Mr. Montreuil, the City needs the revenue that could be generated through the Carrefour 40-55. “You have to touch these wetlands, […] because Trois-Rivières’ financial situation has to change,” he said. “Without that, we are going into a wall. »
Instead, Councilor Albernhe-Lahaie insists on the importance of protecting the environment. “If this same project were tabled today, it might not be authorized, or there would be significant financial compensation to be paid” in return for the destruction of these wetlands, under the amendment to the law, she points out.
Vulnerable ecosystems
The elected municipal official regrets that the latest version of the project, presented on June 20 to the municipal council, did not further take into account the recommendations issued by a group of independent experts from the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR) .
These researchers from the Center for Research on Watershed-Aquatic Ecosystem Interactions (RIVE) have proposed an alternative solution so that the industrial park can indeed be expanded, while preserving the most fragile and important wetlands in this zone.
“If one of the objectives of COP15 is to protect 30% of the territory while maximizing ecological connectivity, we cannot just postpone the reflection of ‘What are we going to protect to achieve this objective ?”. Because, in ten years, we risk ending up with 30% of small pieces scattered here and there,” argues Eric Harvey, professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at UQTR and member of this group.
Approximately ten hectares, or the equivalent of a third of La Fontaine Park in Montreal, would be destroyed by this project. While work on this scale may seem unproblematic at first glance, scientists are concerned about the repercussions it could have on surrounding ecosystems.
“You should not see a wetland as a flower in the middle of a landscape,” explains Audréanne Loiselle, doctoral candidate at the University of Montreal and specialist in the subject. “If we start to drain water in one place, the surrounding wetlands will necessarily suffer. For example, in the case of peat bogs, this drainage could lead to their drying out and therefore the release into the atmosphere of CO2 that they had stored. »
A matter of money
If the recommendations of the RIVE center had been followed to the letter, the municipality would have had to request a new certificate of authorization from the government, since the experts suggest exploiting several parcels of wetlands that are not included in the 2014 certificate.
According to city councilor Pascale Albernhe-Lahaie, however, the City has no obligation and above all no interest in restarting this process, since it would then pay heavy compensation under the 2017 law amendment. This is why, according to her, “the project hasn’t changed much in its latest version. [Trois-Rivières] did not seize the opportunity to have this more regional reflection on conservation”.
If you start to drain water in one place, the surrounding wetlands will necessarily suffer. For example, in the case of peat bogs, this drainage could lead to their drying out and therefore the release into the atmosphere of the CO2 that they had stored.
Pierre Montreuil justifies this choice by emphasizing that the procedures would, in his opinion, be too long for the City, given its economic situation. “Start the process again, go get a certificate of authorization… This time, I consider that we don’t have it,” he says.
According to Philippe Duhamel, spokesperson for the citizen coalition Terre Precious, a majority of the population of Trois-Rivières would be opposed to the holding of this project. “But in the short term, it is likely to be the vision ‘economy first, environment perhaps’ that will triumph,” he laments. The Trifluvien says he is “ready to go as far as civil disobedience, if necessary”, to prevent the project from seeing the light of day.
The municipal councilor Pierre Montreuil affirms for his part that a referendum or a consultation of the citizens on this subject would cost “several hundred thousand dollars, if not a million” to set up. “There comes a time when realism must prevail,” he says.
Social acceptability
“The mayor will return after six months of sick leave on July 4 to cast his vote in favor of the drainage,” underlines Pascale Albernhe-Lahaie. According to her, this sensitive project could thus pass by eight votes against seven.
“We have old archaic political strategies at the moment, which force this project, and that creates tensions,” she laments.
The deputy mayor of Trois-Rivières, Daniel Cournoyer, did not respond to requests for an interview from the Duty (in the absence of the titular mayor, Jean Lamarche, who was on sick leave).
The candidate for the position of spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Ruba Ghazal, went to Trois-Rivières in recent days to denounce the project. “In addition to all the environmental aspect, […] there is no social acceptability in the population in Trois-Rivières,” she told the Duty.
She calls on the Minister of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks, Benoit Charette, to “stop the project and carry out a reassessment in the light of the law”.
Minister Charette’s office told the Duty that he would not decide before the final vote on the project. But he “is following the file carefully”, said his cabinet by email.