Open in full screen mode According to the alleged authors , driving nails into trees sabotages equipment and makes deforestation more costly and dangerous. (Archive photo) The Canadian Press Acts of sabotage were committed on the site of the future factory of Northvolt batteries in Montérégie, where people have driven nails into trees that the Swedish company intends to cut down. In an email exchange with The Canadian Press, Northvolt spokesperson Emmanuelle Rouillard-Moreau indicated that individuals entered the site in order to insert nails and/or nail bars into around a hundred trees during the night from Monday to Tuesday. Northvolt deplored the use of this type of tactic which poses significant risks for the safety of workers and neighboring communities, while making the recovery of trees impossible. The anonymous perpetrators of this sabotage posted a demand on Montreal Counter-information, a site that aspires to provide Montreal anarchists with a space to disseminate their ideas and actions across intersecting networks and trends.
People entered the site to insert nails and/or nail bars into around a hundred trees during the night from Monday to Tuesday, according to Northvolt.
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The alleged saboteurs are calling for a broad mobilization against the destructive project that constitutes the Northvolt mega-factory and are asking to attack this stone crushing machine living by targeting its weak points.
Putting nails in trees allows, according to them, to sabotage the&# x27;equipment and make deforestation more costly and dangerous, because if a chainsaw hits a nail, it will damage or break the chain, and thus slow down Northvolt's activities.
< p class="StyledBodyHtmlParagraph-sc-48221190-4 hnvfyV">Let's sabotage the equipment, block the construction sites and harass the elected officials in the pay of the industry, we can read in the press release.
These actions are completely unacceptable, reacted in the afternoon the Federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne.
In a free and democratic society, people have the right to express themselves, but “If people have objections, there are other ways to do that,” he said on the sidelines of a press conference.
As he had done the day before, he reiterated that the Swedish company was environmentally conscious and keen to work with the community.
The federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, is an ardent defender of the arrival of Northvolt in Quebec. (Archive photo)
He described the arrival of Northvolt in Quebec as a ;generational opportunity.
Let us be proud, as Quebecers, to have been able to attract the&# x27;one of the largest companies to come and set up with us in an area of the future, in the field of the environment, indicated Minister Champagne.
In addition, the hearing concerning the request for an injunction filed last week against Northvolt, which was to take place Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse, was postponed to Wednesday.
In a statement released Tuesday morning, the Swedish multinational said that this decision was taken following a request made by the City of Saint-Basile-le-Grand and an agreement between the parties.
L& The company added that it would not comment further, out of respect for the ongoing legal process. Work on the site of the future factory remains suspended, she said.
It is&# This is the second time the injunction hearing has been postponed.
The procedure began last week, but Judge David R. Collier, of the Superior Court of Quebec, postponed the hearing, scheduled for Friday, to Tuesday to allow the defendant parties to become aware of the file.
The Swedish multinational began the slaughter of ' at the beginning of last week ;trees on the site of its future battery factory in McMasterville and Saint-Basile-le-Grand, in Montérégie.
The factory file of Northvolt in Montérégie has already caused a lot of ink to flow, especially on the environmental level, due to practices that many describe as questionable and harmful to the environment. (Archive photo)
This work was, however, interrupted while the Superior Court considered the requests provisional and interlocutory injunctions filed by the Quebec Environmental Law Center and three citizens.
Meanwhile, Northvolt could not proceed with tree felling work in wetlands and 500 meters away of these on the site of the future factory, ruled the judge.
The Quebec Law Center the environment and the three citizens argue that the work at the factory is worrying for biodiversity and that the multinational's land is a habitat for many threatened or vulnerable animal species.
A provisional injunction normally lasts 10 days, but the Quebec Environmental Law Center and the three citizens are also requesting an interlocutory injunction.
For her part, the lawyer representing Northvolt affirmed last Friday that' #x27;a 10-day interim injunction would cause irreparable harm to the company.
Northvolt wishes reiterate its commitment to participating in decarbonization by offering a sustainable model for battery manufacturing. We wish to continue to achieve this mission with and for the communities, underlined the company in its press release published Tuesday.
The planned site for the construction of the battery manufacturing and recycling plant is located on 171 hectares of land in Saint-Basile-le-Grand and McMasterville.