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Where to start? There has been so much disappointing news recently regarding the oil port that TransCanada would like to build in Cacouna, Quebec as part of its proposed Energy East pipeline project.
On Sunday, August 31, the Quebec Superior Court dismissed an injunction application filed by citizens and environmental groups requesting the suspension of proposed drilling by TransCanada in Cacouna. As you may already know, Cacouna, a municipality in Quebec's scenic Bas-St-Laurent region is near a nursery for the beluga whale, a unique marine mammal whose population is declining throughout the world.
Although the court ruling was not in their favour, participating citizens and environmental groups are pleased to have drawn public attention to the fact that Quebec's approval of this project is not based on scientific advice. In fact, the government of Quebec, through David Heurtel, Minister of Sustainable Development, the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change, claims to have relied on scientific advice from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, but no one else has seen this advice.
Is it just me or is it completely mind-boggling to watch Quebec abdicate its responsibilities in this way?
The pipeline would carry 1.1 million barrels a day of crude oil, including some diluted bitumen, from Alberta and Saskatchewan to eastern Canada.
Imagine for a second that Newfoundland and Ottawa announced the construction of a power transmission line that would pass through Quebec. You would have politicians of every political stripe – from left to right and right to left – expressing indignation alongside Hydro-Québec and many other players. There would be a categorical no to such a project. Yet, here we have the TransCanada Energy East pipeline project, which would make Quebec into a transit point for western oil heading eastward. Where is the categorical no? It is beyond comprehension!
And to top it off, Justin Trudeau took the opportunity as he was passing through the province to come out in favour of the Energy East project.
This is the same Justin Trudeau who has said he would reverse any decisions in favour of the Northern Gateway project if elected in the next election. It doesn't make any sense.
Perhaps our mountains aren't high enough or our ecosystems as worthy of protection as those out west...
This article by Steven Guilbeault, senior director of Equiterre, orginally appeared in French in the Métro newspaper.
