Quebec supports the project of a mega electrical substation in the Latin Quarter

Photo: Marie-France Coallier Le Devoir The project to build a giant 315 kV electrical substation located in front of the bus station would require industrial-type installations.

Jean-François Nadeau

Published yesterday at 3:37 PM Updated yesterday at 6:22 PM

• Québec

The government supports Hydro-Québec in its desire to install a 325-kilovolt mega-station in front of the Montreal bus station, right next to the Grande Bibliothèque.

For the first time, the National Assembly discussed Hydro-Québec's plan to occupy the land located in the heart of the Latin Quarter.

In the House, MP Manon Massé (whose riding of Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques includes the Latin Quarter) stated on Tuesday that “this has been negotiated in the shadows for seven years, and here we are faced with almost a fait accompli. Of course, the BAnQ land is the easy solution. […] That being said, there is no social acceptability.”

In response, the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Christine Fréchette, stated that “it turns out that Hydro-Québec is committed to the option of moving, next to the library. So, we will work on this in such a way that social acceptability is there.” For the minister, there is no doubt that “this station will be moved to the adjacent land, that is to say, the one located next to the library.” The minister said she wanted to ensure “the proper integration and harmony that this structure will have with respect to the surrounding neighbourhood,” without considering changing the location of the project.

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For Manon Massé, this is an easy solution. She expects more effort from the Crown corporation. In the House, the MP noted that the owner of a nearby abandoned site, Groupe Aquilini, is willing to talk to Hydro-Québec to consider other options. “Hydro-Québec does not seem to have taken that situation into account,” she said.

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In a letter dated October 30 addressed to MNA Manon Massé, Minister Christine Fréchette repeats, almost word for word, the essential remarks made by Hydro-Québec. She states that “in recent years, Hydro-Québec has done rigorous work to analyze and compare options, and the BAnQ land remains the preferred site.”

The minister adds, as the Crown corporation has repeated, that a “vast program of public information and consultation activities” will be carried out, without however considering that the location of the project could be changed and that Hydro-Québec will engage in “an architectural competition (a first for the Crown corporation)”, this so that “the infrastructure integrates well into the urban fabric, while contributing to the dynamics of the neighbourhood”.

For Manon Massé, this cannot be an acceptable avenue for the neighbourhood. “It’s as if the die has been cast, that all that remains to be considered now is to try to make it ‘beautiful’. Has Hydro really studied all the proposals, all the possibilities?? I’m not at all sure. We have to think outside the box of what’s easy. It remains an aberration to put a concrete block next to this cultural jewel, our jewel, which is the Grande Bibliothèque. Whether this concrete block is made up or not, it remains the same thing: an aberration. »

For the former co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, thinking about “preserving the cultural heart of the Latin Quarter” is an urgent matter that should interest all parties. “The other parties must tell themselves that this is Manon’s riding and have decided not to get involved,” she says regretfully. The MNA has already stated that this is a project that, the way it is being rolled out, risks being regretted by the population for decades to come.