Open in full screen mode A battery factory under construction in Bécancour. (Archive photo) The Canadian Press Believing that the arrival of Northvolt is “basically good news”, but that the arrival of Northvolt is “basically good news”, but that the arrival of Northvolt is “basically good news”, but that Landing of the factory project was “laborious”, the Liberals are urging the Legault government to launch a generic investigation by the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment (BAPE) into the battery sector. In a letter sent Sunday to Prime Minister François Legault, the leader of the official opposition, Marc Tanguay, affirms that the period for requesting an environmental impact study by the Bureau d'public hearings on the environment (BAPE) for Northvolt has passed, and he urges Mr. Legault not to repeat the same mistakes in the future. For the economy, the environment, our SMEs and our regions, the success of the battery sector requires a generic BAPE. Your government must demonstrate greater rigor and transparency, we read in the letter, a copy of which was sent to The Canadian Press.
The interim leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec, Marc Tanguay. (Archive photo)
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In his missive, Mr. Tanguay maintains that a generic BAPE investigation should not be perceived as an inconvenient and harmful step. On the contrary, it is a collective meeting to define a respectful and optimal vision on an economic, environmental and social level, he argues.
Ultimately, Mr. Legault, by responding favorably to our request, you will create the first winning condition for social acceptability, writes the leader of the official opposition.
According to Mr. Tanguay, a generic BAPE survey on the battery sector is squarely in the mission of the organization, based on the principles of the Sustainable Development Act, and this can be done. done in a few months.
The organization has carried out 11 generic mandates since its creation in 1978, in particular on the inventory and management of asbestos and asbestos mining residues in 2020, we can see on the website of the BAPE.
For us, the Quebec Liberals, the battery industry, we want it to work. But for it to work, we have to get Quebecers involved. And for that, it takes more transparency, rigor, it takes a vision, argued Mr. Tanguay in an interview.
In the Northvolt file, we understand, there will be no BAPE. That said, there is the concept of generic BAPE, in the battery sector. This is what we are asking. We must have collective reflection; we must have collective support for the multiple projects and [economic] opportunities that the battery sector represents, he declared.
The Liberal leader did not fail to throw an arrow at the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, who, according to him, manages this as he sees fit, on a small-time basis.
Pierre Fitzgibbon cannot claim to have all the answers […] He cannot talk about acceptability social by simply saying that Quebecers must change their attitude. There is a tool that we have given ourselves – the generic BAPE – and which would have no negative impact on the progress of the Northvolt project.
A quote from Marc Tanguay, interim leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec
It is up to Prime Minister Legault to say, as a responsible government […] we are going to ask for a BAPE generic, believes Mr. Tanguay. Because if we wait after Mr. Fitzbiggon and the current Minister of the Environment [Benoit Charette], we will never have one, he said.