As smelter controversy simmers, Rouyn-Noranda voters opt for a former mining executive in Quebec election

For many voters in Rouyn-Noranda, Que., a primary concern in this week's election was getting control of toxic emissions coming from the Horne copper smelter.

But instead of re-electing the left-leaning, environmentalist Québec Solidaire MNA Émilise Lessard-Therrien, they opted for the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) candidate, Daniel Bernard, a former mining executive.

Before entering politics, Bernard worked in the mining industry as an engineer and as president of a number of mining companies in the region. He won the riding by more than 4,000 votes.

His win sealed the CAQ's victory across the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, where the party swept all three seats for the first time.

The results did not surprise Sharleen Sullivan, the executive director of Neighbours, a community organization for English-speakers in Rouyn-Noranda, 630 kilometres northwest of Montreal.

Bernard, she said, "is well-known to many of the residents here."

It isn't Bernard's first time in public office. He has twice represented the riding at the National Assembly — in 2003 and 2008 — but as a Liberal. He was also elected to city council in 2021.

Sullivan said she feels his experience helped him get elected but she thinks it suggests Rouyn-Noranda residents trusted him more than Lessard-Therrien to handle the contentious issue of arsenic emissions from the Horne smelter.

"It's a field where [Bernard] has a lot of knowledge. He knows what the machinery can do. He knows what the machinery can't do," she said.

Sullivan said Bernard's outlook on the situation was perhaps "more realistic" than Lessard-Therrien's. The QS MNA had maybe been too focused on the environment and failed to consider the bigger picture, Sullivan said.

Clean air a priority for Bernard

Located in the centre of the city, the Horne smelter was a hot topic throughout the campaign.

It is currently allowed to emit an annual average of 100 nanograms of arsenic per cubic metre of air — more than 33 times the provincial limit.

That historical exemption has come at the expense of the health of residents. A study released in June by Quebec's Institute of Public Health found that decades of exposure to arsenic and cadmium emissions has increased their risk of cancer and pulmonary disease.

Bernard, who ran on a promise to improve air quality in the region, reaffirmed his commitment Monday.

"I will be there to accompany [those living near the smelter] with all the key players in this file," he said.

The emission agreement between the province and Glencore Canada, which owns the smelter, is up for renewal in November.

Bernard said he is ready to work with everyone involved to find a solution that satisfies everyone.

"We want change when it comes to the smelter. The will is there for everyone," he said.

Sullivan, whose husband and father worked at the smelter, says she is optimistic. She said she has already noticed a big difference in the air quality today from when she was a child.

"There were times when the sulphur fallout was so bad that they would keep us in from recess," she said. "That hasn't happened in over 25 years, so there have been improvements."

Locals share hopes for future

Rouyn-Noranda resident Nicole Desgagnés notes the support for the outgoing MNA remained steady but the CAQ siphoned off votes that normally would have gone to the Liberals or the Parti Québécois.

"She didn't survive the [CAQ] tsunami," Desgagnés.

Desgagnés, a spokesperson for ARET, a citizens' group lobbying to end the smelter's toxic emissions, said the fight for cleaner air is not over.

Elected officials, she said, "have to take care of the health of citizens."

"The smelter has to respect the norms as quickly as possible."

Dr. Frédéric Bonin, a family practitioner in Rouyn-Noranda, hopes having someone in government will help more than being represented by an opposition MNA.

Bonin was one of the doctors who signed an open letter calling on CAQ Premier François Legault to act quickly to protect the health of residents.

"We're confident that by talking to [Bernard], by explaining to him our view of [the situation], that he's going to be our ally and that he's going to represent us," he said.

As for Sullivan, she said she hopes Bernard will help the region buff up its tarnished image among tourists, who seem to have lost interest in visiting a region that makes headlines for its heavy metal emissions.

She said she is also looking forward to getting scientific data on what emission level is safe for humans.

Sullivan said she hopes having an MNA for the party in power representing the community will help residents get the "clear, precise information that we need."