Northvolt benefited from four-star service from Quebec's Environment Ministry to get the green light for its battery mega-factory project. Officials' affidavits filed in Superior Court as part of a lawsuit against the project show that the public service began preparing the permit six months before the application was officially submitted.
Everything starts with a rejection. On March 2, 2023, the Ministry of the Environment rejected the housing project presented by promoter Luc Poirier's company MC2 and his employees on the same plot of land, saying it was unacceptable from an environmental point of view.
Two weeks later, on March 17, the Ministry of Economy communicated with Stéfanos Bitzakidis, an executive at Montérégie's regional environmental department. During the meeting, we told him about another project planned in the same place: that of Northvolt.
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The project's vast site spans McMasterville and Saint-Basile-le-Grand in Montérégie
Photo: Radio-Canada
Four days later, on March 21, a new meeting was organized to which the Environment Ministry biologist Raphaëlle Dubois was invited. She had recommended rejecting the MC2 project a few days earlier. He is asked to explain to his interlocutors the environmental requirements of the location where Northvolt wants to establish itself.
At the upper levels of government, we believe Northvolt can succeed where MC2 failed. Three days later, on March 24, the Swedish company registered in the lobbyist register in Quebec.
Northvolt was supported
In the months that followed, the ministry asked its biologists and other colleagues to attend several pre-project meetings with Northvolt and management consultant WSP Canada. As the meetings progress, the project evolves and adapts to officials' recommendations.
It happens that the Ministry assists an applicant for authorization in particular to correctly identify the necessary forms, the documents and information to be provided and the studies required for the environmental analysis, explains Raphaëlle Dubois in his affidavit.
This support enables the submission of a request that is more likely to be complete and meet regulatory and ministerial requirements.
On August 29, the biologist and her colleagues concluded that the company's plan was environmentally appropriate. And on September 6, Northvolt officially submitted its application for ministerial approval.
“I was then tasked with taking over the analysis of the application,” says Raphaëlle Dubois in her written statement. At the time, Quebecers had no idea about the project, which had been brewing behind the scenes for several months before it was announced with great fanfare on September 28th.
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The Northvolt project was presented as acquired on September 28, although it had not yet received a green light.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Ivanoh Demers
From the affidavit of Northvolt's project manager, Johanna Toupin, we learn that it was the Swedish company that requested a meeting with representatives of the ministry to plan the submission of the permit application.
She says that as part of the discussions, the ministry shared its observations and recommendations with Northvolt.
Quebec embraces a culture of customer service
Support before projects is a common practice, Environment Ministry spokesperson Marjorie Larouche tells Radio-Canada. It allows the applicant to find out about the environmental criteria applicable to their project to ensure that their application is as complete as possible at the time of submission.
What percentage of organizers benefit from this service? The ministry did not respond to us. This does not happen equally for everyone, according to a ministerial source.
In 2020, Radio-Canada revealed the existence of an internal ministry directive that directed officials to adopt a new “culture of customer care.”
We must take care of every request as if it were our own, as if we were the sponsor.
“We need to improve customer service for organizers,” confirmed Minister Benoit Charette at the time.
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Benoit Charette, Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks of Quebec
Photo: Radio-Canada / Ivanoh Demers
Is it normal for the same official who helped Northvolt to prepare to also carry out the final assessment of the application? The ministry responded that the file would be handled strictly and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
The analysis of the Northvolt project was carried out according to the same guidelines and criteria as all projects processed by the ministry.
Northvolt received its approval on January 8, 2024, four months after officially submitting its application. According to a compilation prepared by Radio-Canada, the average time in Montérégie to obtain a permit to destroy wetlands is 15 months.
The Swedish company has already admitted that it is in a “race against time” to install its battery factory. Northvolt has contractually committed to a customer to deliver certain cell samples in July 2026 and to begin production in July 2027, we can read in the affidavit from project manager Johanna Toupin.
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Paolo Cerruti, co-founder and CEO of Northvolt for North America, at the logging site.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Ivanoh Demers
Support sponsors, good or bad idea?
“I firmly believe in collaborating as early as possible,” says the president of the Association of Biologists of Quebec, Marie-Christine Bellemare. This makes it possible to address sensitive elements right from the start and avoid time-consuming and costly regressions.
In their opinion, it's faster and everyone wins in the end.
She also sees no problem with the fact that the same biologist from the Ministry of the Environment accompanied the company and then evaluated it.
It's a bit like the police, who are responsible for issuing traffic tickets, but are also responsible for prevention.
However, she wonders: Did the analysts have the professional latitude to make their good recommendation? According to her, if biologists were recognized as an order with a code of ethics, the public could know whether the studies were conducted properly.
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The Director General of SNAP, Quebec Division, Alain Branchaud
Photo: Radio-Canada
For his part, biologist and director of the Society for Nature and Parks (SNAP) in Quebec, Alain Branchaud, says he is used to it, but is still surprised and shocked when he notices such practices.
According to him, the officials accompanying the promoters enable them to bypass regulatory and legal obstacles. As an example, he cites the aim of the Environmental Quality Act, which is primarily to prevent damage to fauna and flora before thinking about minimizing the impacts and finally compensating for them.
He mentions the ban on felling trees between April and August to protect migratory birds. We will support developers so that logging occurs in the winter or fall, but in the end we destroy the habitat.
It is surprising that we do not have a barrier between those who are there to protect fauna and flora and those who are there in a support process.
He fears that we are moving a little too quickly with projects like Northvolt and perhaps cutting corners.
In 2020, the ministry's new funding culture was heavily criticized. A civil servants union reminded that its members work to protect the environment and not as sponsors of corporate projects.
The opposition had accused the CAQ government of being the handmaiden of the organizers. The National Assembly finally adopted a motion reminding the Environment Minister that his only “commissioner” was the common good.