Carney wants to fast-track the Port of Montreal expansion. Here's what's at stake

The port wine of Montreal's elaboration is among fin high-priority  substructure projects undercoat Minister Mark Carney has targeted to fast-track via the newly created Major Projects Office (MPO). 

Speaking in Edmonton Thursday, Carney said the expansion of the existing terminal would help diversify commerce, open new markets and reduce costs for Canadian businesses. 

The Contrecœur Terminal expansion project is meant to increase the Port of Montreal's container handling capacity by 60 per cent by creating space for 1.15 million containers, according to the Montreal Port Authority (MPA), which says the current terminal will soon reach full capacity.

The project includes the construction of a new terminal in Contrecœur, Que., about 70 kilometres northeast of Montreal, as well as a railway yard, among other infrastructure. 

Why the Port of Montreal expansion project is a national priority

The expansion would be done on land the MPA says it acquired in the late 80s. The project has been at the conception stage for just over a decade.

MPA spokesperson Julien Baudry said that construction can begin at the end of the month, barring final negotiation with the contracting company responsible for preliminary works. 

"With so many steps to get a project as big as this one, shovel in the ground and making sure that it's in use in 2030, we need the type of facilitation that the Major Projects Office will offer," he said.

The office was born out of Carney's major projects bill, the One Canadian Economy Act, or Bill C-5, adopted this summer and is dedicated to getting "nation-building projects" off the ground.

One Canadian Economy Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he referred the project to the MPO so it could help the MPA obtain a remaining permit from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). 

Baudry said the MPA has already undergone the permit application process and is waiting to hear back from the agency in the next few weeks.

The port expansion project entails development on the habitat of two endangered species endemic to Quebec – the copper redhorse fish and the western chorus frog – both of which are protected by the Species at Risk Act.

If the MPO officially designates the project as being of national interest, the federal cabinet would gain the authority to exempt it from certain laws and regulations, including environmental laws, to ensure it can move forward.

"I know the Port of Montreal is hopeful those steps will be finalized over the coming weeks. The Major Projects Office will work with the Port of Montreal to make sure it's the case," LeBlanc said, speaking to reporters in Montreal.

"If we don't need to make the designation, we won't."

Just after midnight Thursday, a Quebec environmental advocacy group filed a lawsuit in the civil chamber of Quebec Superior Court, challenging the constitutionality of Bill C-5. 

Particularly, the Centre québécois du droit de l'environnement takes issue with the scope of powers conferred to the MPO and LeBlanc, and the kind of special treatment fast-tracked projects are poised to receive. 

In reaction to the suit, LeBlanc said the act does not limit or reduce "the environmental assessments that Canadians properly expect."

Baudry said the construction work slated for this fall is not contingent on the DFO. 

"The permit coming from DFO will need to be on our end before we begin the construction in the water," he said.

In 2021, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) concluded its five-year environmental review of the MPA's plan. It published a report saying the project was not likely to have a significant adverse impact on the environment, but it outlined over 150 conditions for the MPA to follow.

Contrecœur resident Hélène Reeves is also wary of placing the MPA's expansion plan in the fast lane. She's the spokesperson for a citizen group concerned about the project, the Vigie citoyenne Port de Contrecœur. 

She says the project will not only have an impact on the environment but on residents as well across the South Shore given the influx of trucks and trains that will run between Contrecœur and Montreal.

"We're going to live in a huge industrial area that will be the port of Contrecœur. It's the equivalent of 55 per cent of le Port de Montréal," said Reeves. "The citizens never asked to live in such an industrial area."

She also highlights the disconnect between the IAAC's 2021 report and its regional assessment of the St. Lawrence River, which was approved in 2024, at the request of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke.

"We should have first evaluated the health of the St. Lawrence River, how it is, before we do any more projects in it," said Reeves.

Journalist

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