TransCanada and Enbridge pipelines rejected by Quebec municipalities
TransCanada and Enbridge’s pipelines won’t be welcome in southern Quebec municipalities until they respond to all of the region’s mayors’ concerns, said Denis Coderre.
Coderre, speaking as the president of the Montreal Metropolitan Community — an organization representing 82 communities in the greater Montreal region — said both pipeline companies had failed to meet all the conditions the mayors had set out.
"I truly believe in economic development, but not at any cost," Coderre said late Thursday morning.
He and Mascouche Mayor Guillaume Tremblay held a news conference in collaboration with the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ) late Thursday morning.
"We had some guidelines, some conditions that we put forward, like the respect of the environment, to make sure that we have safety because we heard about leaks," he continued.
Instead, he and Tremblay said their most recently voiced concerns were met with an attempt to smooth things over.
"Drop the PR," Coderre said. "We are big boys and big girls. We are able to make decisions."
Mayors ask NEB to block projects
He and Tremblay asked the National Energy Board to not allow Enbridge to reverse its 9B pipeline between Montreal and Sarnia, as well as block TransCanada from building its Energy East pipeline until the companies can fulfill all the conditions set out by Coderre and other regional mayors.
Coderre said that although the Energy East pipeline will cross hundreds of kilometres of Quebec soil and waterways, there will be few economic benefits for the province.
Considering the potential risk to the environment and the safety of people living near the pipeline’s proposed route, Coderre said he was not willing to take a leap of faith on TransCanada or Enbridge.
He said if those companies couldn’t prove they had solid security measures and emergency plans in place, then their projects wouldn’t be rubber-stamped by the municipalities.
"That’s the deal. We have conditions. If the conditions are not fulfilled, tough luck," Coderre said.
