Montréal, December 10, 2024 – The Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement (CQDE) is suing the Gouvernement du Québec for its failure to put the public register for environmental information online within an acceptable timeframe, considering that the register has been required since the 2017 reform of the Environment Quality Act. The organization denounces a continuing lack of political will that compromises community participation and environmental protection in Québec. 

An indispensable tool for democracy and the environment  

The public register for environmental information, established by a vote of the National Assembly in 2017, was intended to provide quick and easy access to essential data on the environmental impacts of projects. This tool would, most of all, enable the general public, communities, organizations, the media, and municipalities to better understand and monitor environmental issues.

“The absence of this register is a democratic failure. Quebecers have the right to know so they can act,” explains Geneviève Paul, Executive Director of the CQDE. “How can we protect our territory if we don’t know what pressures are weighing on it?”

In the Northvolt case, even without information from a BAPE inquiry, the register would have provided instant access to environmental data about the project, whereas the public and the media were instead forced to make incessant requests for access to information, and even resort to legal recourse, in order to shed full light on the project and its handling.

“With a public register, everyone would have been able to see from the outset the conditions under which the Northvolt project was authorized, and in particular what was at stake in the company’s compensation plan,” points out Geneviève Paul. “Today, the administrative and judicial processes place an enormous burden on civil society, not to mention the fact that information is obtained late and with difficulty, in addition to the ministry’s resources being swallowed up in these procedures. This unnecessarily weakens both community participation and public trust.”

Years of government inaction

Despite repeated reminders from the CQDE and numerous civil society players, the government has not prioritized the rollout of this register. A recent access to information request confirms that the register is not scheduled to go online within the next few years.

“After more than seven years of waiting, we’re using our last resort. In the absence of political will, we’re relying on legal recourse to get the government to respect the law,” affirms Geneviève Paul.

On this World Human Rights Day, the CQDE reaffirms that rapid access to information is an integral part of the right to information, and an essential condition for a healthy democracy and effective protection of our environment.

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