The Séminaire de Québec, owner of the Seigneurie de Beaupré where the controversial Des Neiges wind farm is to be built in 2026-2027, denies sacrificing one of the most beautiful landscapes in Charlevoix on the altar of energy.
In an opinion letter shared with The Duty, Geographer and land use consultant Anthoni Barbe, with photos to back it up, suggests “a spectacular and hidden gem” nestled in Charlevoix, at the very spot where Hydro-Québec, Énergir and Boralex want to set up “between 60 and 80 wind turbines.”
This glacial valley where the Sainte-Anne River carves its furrow between Lac de la Tour and the river, “is not a valley like the others: it is one of the most beautiful in Quebec,” according to the author of the letter. Yet it has almost no one to admire it since “public access is prohibited,” except for forestry workers and occasional vacationers who frequent one of the 201 hunting and fishing clubs of the Seigneurie.
It is at the top of the Charlevoix mountains that Hydro-Québec and its partners wish to plant wind turbines, sacrificing not only an exceptional landscape, according to Anthoni Barbe, but also the habitat of two endangered species, the caribou and the Bicknell’s thrush.
“Hence the importance,” he wrote in reference to the photos taken on site, “of sharing these images, so that the people of Quebec can fully measure the extent of what some are prepared to sacrifice in the name of energy production.”
“We’re pushing the envelope a bit”
The Des Neiges wind farm is to be divided into three phases of “60 to 80 wind turbines” each and extend from the Lac-Jacques-Cartier territory in the west to the MRC of Charlevoix in the east. Its total capacity, in the long term, should be around 1,200 MW.
The completion of the Charlevoix sector would cost a billion dollars, according to the estimate included in the environmental impact study submitted to the Ministry of the Environment in 2022, and would add 70 wind turbines in the primary watershed of the Sainte-Anne River. The planned deforestation in this same area would amount to 418 hectares.
The Seminary of Quebec authorized the first wind turbines in its Seigneurie in 2005. The income from the rental of its territory has allowed it to replenish its coffers and ensure the sustainability of its mission and its work, explains Father Gilles Routhier, Superior General of the Seminary.
“We have several heritage buildings in downtown Quebec City and the law requires inspections and the repair of the masonry every five or ten years. Without the income from the Seigneurie,” emphasizes the priest, “we simply would not be able to preserve these buildings.”
The Seminary explains that it has explored in the past the idea of devoting part of its Lordship, approximately 1,600 km in size,2for recreational and tourist use. The burden, however, proved too heavy to bear for this organization dedicated, in particular, to the training of future priests.
“We have rather briefly examined a recreational tourism vocation, we have even consulted on this subject, but we were advised against doing so, indicates the priest, because the management turned out to be much more complicated.”
As for the landscape value of the Sainte-Anne River valley, which the MRC of Charlevoix compares in its beauty to the Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière Malbaie in its development plan, the Superior General has doubts.
“To know the Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie valley, I think we are exaggerating a bit if we compare the two things.”
Also contested in Beaupré
The Bureau d’audiences publiques en environnement (BAPE) studied a second phase of the Des Neiges park located in the MRC of La Côte-de-Beaupré, near Mont Sainte-Anne.
In its report published in June, the commission of inquiry considered the project “justified, because it is part of the perspective of the energy transition and the decarbonization of the economy”. It also recalled the importance of preserving the landscapes “since the wind turbines planned by the initiator would be visible from the summit of the mountain”.
The BAPE recommended that the ministry “require the initiator to consult, in particular, the citizens of the host community”, especially regarding the 17 wind turbines installed on the outskirts of Mont Sainte-Anne.
On this point, Gilles Routhier disagrees. “I am convinced that a ski lift at Mont Saint-Anne disrupts the landscape and the mountain more than a wind turbine. There is also a wind farm at Massif du Sud. There, they made a trail to get close to it and see it: it is the most frequented trail.”
“If we wanted to keep the landscape as it was 400 years ago,” he concludes, “we would stop a lot of things.”