One hundred people jumped into the river at the Old Port of Montreal for the traditional Grand Splash, an initiative of Fondation Rivières to demand a harbour bath at the Jacques-Cartier Basin and new swimming access around the island of Montreal.
On July 3, 2024, the federal government gave the go-ahead for the expansion of the tailings and waste rock piles at the Bloom Lake iron mine, adding the lakes and rivers surrounding the project to its list of exceptions to the ban on destroying fish habitat. This means that 37 bodies of water surrounding the mine site, representing 156 hectares of fish habitat and many more natural environments of all kinds, will be destroyed in perpetuity. The federal government is thus following in the footsteps of the provincial government, against the advice of the BAPE, scientists and public opinion, and setting a dangerous precedent.
Grand Splash au Vieux-Port de Montréal 2024: pour un accès public à l’eau du fleuve Saint-Laurent
Did you read Ariane Krol's article published in La Presse on June 9, 2024? Her dossier, Tensions sur fond de sable blond, brilliantly documents the case of the Batiscan beach and establishes for good what we've been trying to communicate for a year: the shoreline is public. The littoral is the shoreline that is dry once the water has receded after the great spring floods or tides. It's called the high-water mark or littoral limit. The Ministry of the Environment has confirmed that it has not ceded the littoral and that it takes precedence over any transactions or demarcations made by riparian owners. In very rare cases, some river and lake beds are privately owned, but these exceptions date from the distant past.
In January 2018, Hydro-Québec CEO Éric Martel said, "If people start self-generating with solar, it's going to make electricity rates explode: it's the risk of the 'death spiral'." His logic was as follows: if customers start self-generating, there will be fewer customers to share Hydro-Québec's fixed-cost bill. Rising costs would become inevitable, pushing more customers to opt for self-generation. A downward spiral of customer attrition and economic death would follow.
Normand Beaudet, in charge of mobilization at Fondation Rivières, talks about the TES Mauricie file and the mobilization against mega-wind turbines. Fondation Rivières is concerned. Undermining the social acceptability of wind energy is a threat to rivers. We need wind power to achieve our decarbonization objectives.
Make a difference for the environment
Become a member of the Foundation by donating. Your contribution allows our team to continue to mobilize to protect Quebec's rivers and waterways for future generations.
Explore
