Fitzgibbon claims 'barbarians' attacked Northvolt

Photo: Jacques Boissinot Archives La Presse canadienne « Les barbares, plusieurs pays en ont, on en a quelques-uns, on va espérer les chasser », a dit le ministre Pierre Fitzgibbon au sujet du ou des responsables des bombes artisanales placées sur le terrain de la compagnie Northvolt.

The Minister of Economy and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, denounced Tuesday the actions of “barbarians” who endangered employees on the site of the future factory of the battery manufacturer Northvolt, in Montérégie.< /p>

The company revealed on Monday that pipe bombs had been placed on machinery at the construction site, a situation Mr Fitzgibbon said was unacceptable. “It’s barbarians who did this, it’s not acceptable,” he declared at a press briefing at the National Assembly.

M . Fitzgibbon expressed the hope that the police would identify the people who carried out these actions on the Northvolt field. “When we play with people’s security, they’re barbarians,” he said. We must chase them away. »

According to the minister, this situation should not discourage investors from coming to Quebec, because other countries are also facing this type of situation. “Barbarians, several countries have them, we have a few, we will hope to drive them out,” he said. I think that Quebec still offers a lot of attractions. I am very comfortable selling Quebec internationally. »

The Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, also condemned the actions taken on the construction site. “We have the right to express ourselves, but not to vandalize like we did and put the lives of certain employees in danger,” he said.

< p>The site of the future battery factory has already been the scene of acts of vandalism and attempted sabotage since January.

The Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, condemned the most recent acts of which Northvolt was the target. “These are marginal groups who, in any case, oppose any type of development project, even environmental ones,” he said.

Debate to be held

The co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, affirmed that the Northvolt project, which has not been subject to the examination procedure of the Bureau d'audiences publique enenvironnement (BAPE), continues to raise questions. “This is unacceptable,” he said at a press briefing. There is a social debate that needs to be had on Northvolt and, in fact, on the entire deployment of the battery sector in Quebec, but that is not the way to do it. »

The interim Liberal leader, Marc Tanguay, expressed the hope that the police would catch those responsible for these actions. “Vandalism, sabotage, criminal acts have no place in Quebec,” he said.

PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, stressed that Quebec society offers plenty of space to debate without having to resort to such extreme acts. “Not only is it illegal, but it is counterproductive for Quebec because we do not want to be a company that is known around the world for operating in that way. There’s plenty of space to be heard,” he said.