Despite the words of the Minister of Agriculture, who has not closed the door on the reintegration of the Rabaska land into an agricultural zone, the mayor of Lévis is “convinced” that the government will not go in this direction.
• Also read: Terres de Rabaska: The minister leaves the door open
• Also read: Modernizing Agricultural Land Protection Act: Quebec wants to “better protect its pantry”
“The development of the industrial port zone is recognized and the government has given its approval. If the government agrees […]All departments were consulted. “The plan has the force of law,” Lévis Mayor Gilles Lehouillier argued on Thursday.
“It takes government guidance to say the system is not correct. I am positive [que cela n’arrivera pas].”
power to the minister
The mayor was responding to the comments of Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne, who had launched a major operation to modernize the law protecting agricultural land the day before.
In this sense, the minister stressed to Rabaska that the new legal framework introduced in 2021 “gives the Minister of Agriculture the power to enforce a retrocession in the green zone”.
Mr Lamontagne deplored the fate of the land, which was dezoned despite the opinion of the Commission for the Protection of Agricultural Areas of Quebec (CPTAQ).
In his opinion, there was a “lack of vision” in the liberal government at the time, which did not provide for the return of the 272 hectares to the green zone if the LNG terminal project was abandoned.
Industrial development
Lévis is aiming for industrial development on these lands to fill the lack of space in its 14 existing industrial parks. At this point the lands are cultivated or consist of forest and wetland.
An official application for land restoration in the Green Zone is currently under review by the CPTAQ. It was submitted by the Group for Initiatives and Applied Research in the Environment.
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