Latest from Stéphane Blais
Northvolt says it faces 'sabotage' at site of future Quebec EV battery plant
An anonymous group claimed responsibility on an anarchist website, saying the motive for their "sabotage" was to protest a megaproject they say will destroy woods and wetlands and perpetuate car culture.
Quebec government says it is open to studying whether to restart nuclear reactor
The new CEO of Hydro-Québec, Michael Sabia, has asked for an assessment of the Gentilly-2 nuclear plant, which was mothballed in 2012. Now the province's energy minister says he agrees with the plan and that it would "irresponsable" to ignore the potential of nuclear power.
Removing illegal Airbnbs could help solve Quebec's housing crisis, tenants' association says
A tenants group in Montreal says vacancy rates in most regions of Quebec would be at three per cent or higher if the units on Airbnb were put on the long-term rental market. A rental market is considered balanced when the vacancy rate reaches three per cent, according to the CMHC.
Range of emotions for residents facing relocation over smelter in Rouyn-Noranda
While some residents of the Notre-Dame neighbourhood see it as a chance to leave a sector where arsenic emissions from the Horne copper smelter are associated to a higher risk of cancer, others greet the impending move with sadness and anguish.
Caution urged as mining companies eye critical minerals beneath Quebec boreal forest
There are nearly 400 mining exploration projects in the boreal forest of the Eeyou Istchee, the traditional lands of the James Bay Cree. It is unclear how many will result in operating mines in the coming years, but there is potential, and the government wants to take advantage of it.
Cree mother wonders how mining development in northern Quebec will affect food supply
Heather House worries the potential extraction of lithium and other critical minerals, because it deprives the Cree of certain hunting grounds, will exacerbate food insecurity in the same way major Hydro-Québec projects have had a negative impact on the local food supply.
Hailed as green energy source, northern Quebec lithium project divides Cree
Starting in 2025, approximately 15 heavy trucks a day will roar through the ancestral hunting grounds of the Nemaska Cree, carrying the thousands of tonnes of ore that Nemaska Lithium plans to mine.
Where trapping is still a way of life, Quebec lithium projects spark fears for future
In order to develop mines for lithium and other critical minerals needed for the electrification of transportation, the Grand Council of the Crees and the Quebec government are planning to build hundreds of kilometres of new roads and power lines, a railroad, and a deepwater port in the Eeyou Istchee.
Quebec allows copper smelter in northwest to emit arsenic levels 5 times norm
The Horne copper smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, Que., is currently allowed to emit 100 nanograms of arsenic per cubic metre of air. Now, the province is recommending that be reduced to 15.
Quebec public health wants smelter's arsenic emissions cut to 5 times provincial norm
Dr. Luc Boileau said average emissions of 15 nanograms of arsenic per cubic metre of air would be a safe level for people in Rouyn-Noranda until air quality in the city is "eventually" improved to the provincial standard.