Some of Quebec’s most prominent environmentalists gathered to send a stark warning to the government on Monday.
Greenpeace, Équiterre, David Suzuki Foundation, Nature Québec and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake are accusing the Legault government of prioritizing big business over environmental protection and transparency. They say public trust could be lost if Quebec continues to erode environmental regulations.
“When the permit was issued for Northvolt, that to me is about money,” said Chief Ross Montour of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake.
Montour stood shoulder-to-shoulder with some of Quebec’s top environmental activists at a press conference in Montreal.
“Do not try to bypass the public consultation process. Do not try to bypass environmental regulations. Play by the rules,” said Équiterre government relations director Marc-André Viau.
The coalition of groups is concerned about the way Quebec gave the green light to the Northvolt electric car battery factory, which is currently under construction in a South Shore field that’s home to dozens of species. Quebec tweaked regulations, allowing the project to avoid the BAPE’s public environmental impact consultation process.
“They’re creating a new process for this specific industry, for this specific company. They need to respect what’s in place already,” said Viau.
The environmentalists say this is part of a concerning trend. They worry Quebec will increasingly put environmental rules and public participation on the back burner to make way for big business.
“Your great grandchildren’s grandchildren won’t be able to eat that money,” said Montour.
“We are asking the government to respect democratic processes, to be transparent and to work on restoring public trust,” said Alice-Anne Simard, executive director of Nature Québec.
Northvolt says the plant will create the greenest batteries in the world, but the groups say the public should get a full picture of how much destruction will be necessary along the way.
“Is the trade off worth the destruction of wetlands? For this specific case, I don’t know,” said Viau, criticizing the lack of public consultation.
“In my view, it is a bad project,” said Montour. “If you’re going to destroy species, it’s not good.”
Jacinthe Villeneuve, a McMasterville resident who lives right near the new factory, worries it could impact the air or the Richelieu River.
“We have a lot of questions that we didn’t receive any answer,” she said.
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake says the government also failed in its duty to consult with Indigenous communities. A legal case related to that is still pending.
“We haven’t ruled out injunctive relief at some point, but we’ll take that step by step,” said Montour.
The environmentalists say if the government continues down this path it risks undermining the transition to greener forms of energy because the public’s trust will be lost.
Quebec’s environment ministry did not respond to a request for comment from Global News by deadline.
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