A translation by Judith Turcotte.
In 2013, François Legault published a book titled Cap sur un Québec gagnant-le projet Saint-Laurent. Given my interest for the St. Laurent, the book attracted my attention and I must admit that its content was exciting. In his book, he proposed to create an innovation valley project equivalent to Silicone Valley that would be baptized projet Saint-Laurent. Today, ten years later, the project is still pending except for a few proposals.
The book proposed a number of “beautifying” projects for the St. Lawrence River so that our river becomes a pull factor for investors. I have difficulty understanding that the justification for these embellishment projects are meant to attract investors while a better reason would have been the idea of improving the quality of life for 80% of the population living near the St. Lawrence River. Among the projects found in the book, it is proposed to reappropriate the contaminated lands situated near the river to build urban neighbourhoods and to restore access to the shoreline.
Wishful thinking yet with more surprising proposals. He also proposes to increase maritime transport on the river, a source of pollution and, even more surprising in today’s world, he is in favour of the exploitation of fossil fuels in the gulf. In the book, François Legault considers the St. Lawrence River as a “treasure” to be exploited for the economic development of the province. The choice of word is meaningful; the St. Lawrence River has always been exploited to its detriment.
In the world today, maritime transport and exploitation of fossil fuels should be far down on the list of the government’s objectives. We have been polluting the St. Lawrence River for hundreds of years. This pollution has diminished. However, there is still much to do and the situation has become worse, not better, with climate change. Our sewage systems can no longer retrieve the torrential rain caused by global warming, with the result that untreated sewage discharges in the river are increasingly important. Our entire sewage and wastewater recovery system must be reviewed. The problem with such a project is that it does not interest the population even if it has become a priority.
The Projet Saint-Laurent represents an attractive electoral promise for the Québec population just as the 3e lien between Québec and Lévis for the Québec region. It will not be surprising to see the Projet Saint-Laurent return to the headlines during the next electoral campaign just as the lien Québec-Lévis. However, the two projects will not see the light of day because they are unrealistic and too expensive.