If the Superior Court agrees to stop the work of destroying wetlands and felling trees on the Northvolt site, the Quebec Environmental Law Center (CQDE) intends to present a motion so that the courts recognize the “unreasonable” nature of the authorization granted by the Legault government.
The hearing on the request for a provisional injunction presented by the CQDE is underway this Wednesday at the Montreal courthouse. The organization is calling for “the suspension” of the work authorized by the Legault government and the municipality of Saint-Basile-le-Grand, i.e. the destruction of 130,000 m2 wetlands and the felling of more than 8,700 trees.
The CQDE is represented by two lawyers, facing the six lawyers representing Northvolt, the government of Quebec and the City of Saint-Basile-le-Grand. At the start of the hearing, Superior Court Judge David R. Collier said he hoped the presentations would be completed before the end of the day. Work is currently suspended on the site while the hearing takes place in Superior Court.
As part of the hearing in the morning, the CQDE indicated that it had to use the Access to Information Act in order to obtain documents in support of the authorization granted by the Legault government. , January 8. It is specified that the documents were received on Monday January 22, while the hearing on the request for an injunction was initially scheduled for January 19.
If it obtains a favorable decision regarding its request for an injunction, the CQDE wishes to submit a request for judicial review next week in order to have the ministerial authorization and the tree felling permit that was granted declared “unreasonable”. by Saint-Basile-le-Grand. The file would then be sent back to the government for a new analysis.
Refusal in 2023
In the request for a provisional injunction, the organization recalls that the Legault government refused last year to carry out a real estate project on the same site. Experts from the Quebec Ministry of the Environment then justified their decision by emphasizing the rich biodiversity of the land, the essential nature of the natural environments for the region and the “impressive diversity” of the fauna on the site.
In its refusal decision, dated March 2023, the government indicated at the same time that the diversity of ponds and marshes “provides a variety of habitats for living species, which allows the maintenance of biodiversity in a context where natural environments are rare and where agricultural practices and urban development homogenize the landscape.” What’s more, the planned destruction of natural environments would have reduced “the connectivity links between the natural environments of the region”.
“The areas currently occupied by wetlands in the Richelieu River watershed are estimated at approximately 6%, which is already insufficient to ensure the maintenance of the ecological functions that these environments fulfill,” we can also read in the document signed by the regional director of analysis and expertise of Montérégie for the Ministry of the Environment of Quebec. This is the same person who signed the authorization granted to Northvolt on January 8.
“Apparent inconsistency”
The CQDE thus deplores “that there seem to be double standards”. He therefore “wishes to shed light on this apparent inconsistency”.
According to Marc Bishai, lawyer at CQDE, the analysis which led to the refusal of the residential project last year is still valid this year. “As the situation requires an urgent response for the protection of the environment, we are now turning to the courts. We regret having to come this far, but the ongoing destruction, without adequate response to public concerns, compels us to act quickly. »
Furthermore, on Tuesday, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake launched legal action against the governments of Quebec and Canada in the Northvolt case. The court action states that authorization for the project was granted without respecting “the duty to consult” of the First Nations.
According to what the Council argues, the two levels of government contravened their obligation to consult the First Nations. In the case of the Quebec government, it would have contravened this duty by “authorizing the destruction of wetlands before having completed the consultation,” according to what we can read in the press release.
Dozens of environmental groups, unions, doctors, citizen groups and academics also sent a letter to Quebec Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, to demand more “transparency” in the Northvolt file, but also an environmental assessment of the industrial project, which was “eagerly” approved.
Organizations are organizing a demonstration on Wednesday evening in front of the site of the future Northvolt factory, in order to “symbolically” install padlocks on the fence surrounding the site.