Quebec government adopts Blainville toxic waste dump legislation, critics vow to take law to court
MMC and City of Blainville announce plans to ask Superior Court to suspend law
Unless Quebec Superior Court intervenes, the owners of the Stablex hazardous waste landfill in Blainville, Que., will soon be able to expand the facility for an additional 40 years of storage.
Despite strong pushback this week, Premier François Legault convened the assembly starting at 5 p.m. on Thursday to complete the review process for Bill 93. The session continued overnight, and the bill was finally adopted by a vote of 61 to 31 on Friday.
The three opposition parties rejected the bill, which also grants extraordinary powers to the government and does not allow "any judicial review provided for in the Code of Civil Procedure" except on a question of jurisdiction.
"This is a bill tailor-made for an American company," said Parti Québécois MNA Joël Arseneau.
Stablex and the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government have been locked in a public dispute with the City of Blainville about expanding a facility that treats and buries toxic waste, contaminated soil and other hazardous materials north of Montreal.
The site is the only one of its kind in Quebec, and Stablex says if it doesn't start work on the expansion project next month, it may have to suspend operations.
But the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) and the City of Blainville already announced Friday that they were asking the Superior Court to suspend the law while its legality is validated.
Blainville Mayor Liza Poulin has fiercely resisted the expansion project.
"Today is a very dark day in the history of our municipality," she said in a video Thursday addressing citizens.
She reminded members of the National Assembly there is still time to make the "right decision," and maintained that she would not hesitate to take the matter to court.
The controversial piece of legislation forces the City of Blainville to sell a parcel of land to Stablex.
The organization that represents municipalities in the province, the Fédération des municipalités du Québec, and several municipal councils have spoken out against the bill as they all claim it is an attack on municipal autonomy.
Earlier this week, Québec Solidaire officials told the media it suspected that the Legault government intended to pass Bill 93 by invoking closure.
"I never thought we were going to end this with the closure. This is unreal and anti-democratic," QS MNA Alejandra Zaga Mendez told reporters on Wednesday.
Natural Resources Minister Maïté Blanchette Vézina, on the other hand, urged opposition parties to work with the CAQ on this one.
"This is an urgent situation that requires us to adjust quickly," she said Wednesday.
The expansion work on the disputed land is expected to begin shortly, as the clearing must be completed before April 15, the date new federal regulations on migratory birds come into effect.
Written by Isaac Olson with files from Radio-Canada and La Presse Canadienne