Protesters march in Cacouna to halt to oil projects

CACOUNA — In his 67 years, community newspaper editor Yvan Roy had never seen a protest so large in Cacouna. Nearly 2,000 people from across Quebec flocked to the village (pop. 2,002) near Rivière-du-Loup to march against TransCanada oil projects.

The Alberta oil company plans to build an international oil port in Cacouna and a pipeline to carry 1.1 million barrels of crude per day from the Canadian West to terminals in Quebec and the Maritimes.

On Wednesday, TransCanada is allowed to resume preparatory work on the port after a court-ordered suspension.

The protest gave Roy hope the project could be still stopped. “The weekend showed that it’s obvious that the project goes against the common good and all principles of sustainable development,” he said. Despite the hubbub over the weekend, not everybody in Cacouna agrees.

The village’s mayor, Ghislaine Daris, said local attitudes are mixed as they were toward the last two TransCanada projects in Cacouna. In 1980, and again in 2005, the company planned to build a methane gas port in Cacouna. The second project was approved by 57 per cent of the village’s population in a referendum. Based on the last popular vote, Daris said residents are in favour of the oil port.

Ecologists warn TransCanada’s work disturbs the habitat of belugas, whose numbers have dwindled to fewer than 900 in the St-Lawrence. “It’s possibly the worst place we could have chosen to build an oil port in the St-Lawrence River because of the presence of the belugas and its especially rich biodiversity,” said Robert Michaud, who has studied the river’s belugas for more than 30 years.

While the beluga population was thought to be stable until recently, in the last decade it has dropped by 12 per cent. Michaud worries the noise of TransCanada’s exploratory drilling, which started during the whales’ calving period, will negatively alter the behaviour of beluga mothers and their offspring.

“It only has to happen once or twice during the whole construction period for it to have a devastating effect,” he said.

Many protesters wore blue felt patches in the shape of water droplets and held up signs calling for the protection of the belugas. Others came in beluga costume. “We don’t want dirty energy,” said protester Maryse Plante from Rimouski, who accompanied her husband and 8-year-old son to Cacouna. “There must be a way to have energy for the future without hurting the environment.”

TransCanada spokesperson Philippe Cannon said the oil company has set up sonometers in the river and kept the noise of drilling to a minimum to avoid harming the whales. But the environment ministry said the company has not done enough, issuing TransCanada a warning on Friday for making too much of a ruckus and using too many boats to transport workers. Originally limited to one vessel, the company had been using three to transport its crews.

In a statement on Saturday, TransCanada said the protesters ignore the economic benefits of the Energy East pipeline, which would pump $6 billion into Quebec’s economy, according to one study.

Whatever the economic advantages, they are not worth the environmental risks, said Pascal Bérubé, Parti Québécois MNA for Matane-Matépédia, a riding near Cacouna.

He was among many politicians who joined in the protest, including fellow PQ MNA Martine Ouellet, Françoise David of Québec solidaire and Bloc Québécois Leader Mario Beaulieu.

The protest was held four days before the expiry of a Quebec Superior Court injunction on TransCanada’s exploratory drilling in Cacouna. The ruling said environment ministry bureaucrats hadn’t done their homework before awarding the permit.

gvendeville@montrealgazette.com

Twitter: geoffvendeville