Conservatives want to move nickel transshipment to Levi’s

QUEBEC | To improve air quality in Limoilau, the Conservatives are expected to “strongly suggest” to the Port Authority that nickel be transshipped in Lévis instead of Quebec.

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Denise Peter, candidate for the Conservative Party of Quebec in Jean-Lesage, said this when she received Eric Duhaime for the inauguration of his electoral office in downtown Quebec.

“Jean-Lesage County has an air quality problem, explained Ms. Peter before a small group of about forty people. The third bridge link (sic), we will transfer the unloading of hazardous materials such as nickel (…) to the other side in the industrial sector of Lévis.

From 2017, the Port Authority has the option to purchase 270 hectares of land on the south coast. “It’s been good for five years, we’re still in the certification process, explained Frédéric Lagasse, director of communications at the Port of Quebec. We’re not the owner yet.

Minutes later, the Conservative leader qualified his candidate’s commitment in his speech. “That’s not up to us to decide, it’s up to the Port of Quebec,” he admitted in response to questions from the Journal. “The exact agreements, how they are going to do it, are they going to do it in an incentive way or a coercive way, you have to ask the Port of Quebec, not us who manage the port. “

It is therefore not exactly an electoral commitment, but an intention, due to the many factors that can influence the likelihood of this scenario materializing, adds Eric Duheim.

“It is a commitment that we will intervene with the port authorities and strongly suggest that it be done,” he explained. But you, like me, know that it has federal jurisdiction and that it has port autonomy. We respect everyone’s jurisdiction.”

Eric Duhaime believed the move would be possible if land in the industrial sector of Levis was finally acquired by the port authorities and the third link was a bridge to the east rather than a tunnel.

“We may have some materials that will be laid on the other side of the river instead of on the north bank. It can be done on the south bank in a district that is very sparsely populated,” the former radio host said.