Montréal, October 1, 2024 – The Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement (CQDE) has taken another step forward in its legal proceedings against the Gouvernement du Québec in connection with the Northvolt gigafactory project. Last Friday, the CQDE introduced new evidence into the file and is asking the courts to examine the legality of the amendment to the regulation that licenced Northvolt to avoid an environmental impact assessment and review procedure under the Environment Quality Act, including a BAPE (Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement) hearing.

Government regulation amendment challenged 

The CQDE is asking the courts to examine the legality of the regulation amendment. For its part, Québec is contesting this approach and has filed a motion for partial dismissal to have the issue of the regulation amendment removed from the file, before proceeding to a hearing on the merits. 

The CQDE is particularly concerned about the information in the internal documents obtained during its court proceedings and is asking the court to consider the legality of the amendment in question. 

Concern about the role of the Ministère de l’Environnement

“What we see from the internal documents obtained is a ministry that sees its role also as facilitating the realization of projects even when they may present environmental risks, and helping the government to amend laws and regulations so that projects considered important to the government are facilitated,” emphasizes Geneviève Paul, Executive Director of the CQDE.

By law, the sole function of the Ministère de l’environnement is to act as a watchdog to protect the territory of Québec, including its flora and fauna. “It’s shocking to see how the government has proactively sought to bypass the BAPE, wanting to do everything possible to speed up the construction of the gigaproject, even as Ministère de l’environnement officials were reminding us of the importance of carrying out a full impact assessment… Such actions put our democracy and the protection of public rights at risk,” adds Geneviève Paul.  

BAPE request reiterated

With delays of 12 to 18 months announced for the project, the argument of lack of time no longer holds water. At the initiative of the CQDE, 30 environmental organizations, citizens’ and advocacy groups and the Association des biologistes du Québec once again called on the Minister of the Environment last week to submit the project to a BAPE review.

The CQDE would like to thank the Lapointe Légal team representing the organization and three citizen co-plaintiffs.

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Background and additional information

• As soon as the project was announced in the fall of 2023, the CQDE expressed its concern about the lack of transparency and ed for the project to be submitted to the environmental impact assessment and review procedure (BAPE). 
• February 2024: the CQDE filed an appeal for judicial review.
• April 2024: new elements were added to the appeal to challenge the Gouvernement du Québec’s July 2023 amendment to a regulation, which had the effect of ruling out a full impact assessment (and hence a BAPE hearing). The project was therefore being analyzed on a case-by-case basis by the Ministère de l’environnement, rather than as a whole. [ Learn more about this file here]
• September 2024: this new stage in the case is not a new appeal. It is a continuation of the one already in course. The CQDE is challenging the way the government and the Ministère de l’Environnement have handled the project and is concerned about the precedent this could set for future projects.