Chevery, December 5th 2024 – With only one road link to the rest of the province, and nearly a third of its territory accessible only by boat or plane, the North Shore undeniably faces considerable mobility challenges.

Behind each meagre advance in the regional transport issue lie years of mobilization by elected representatives and citizens to convince governments of the merits of offering basic services to the North Shore population.

We can only deplore the criticism voiced by certain groups presenting themselves as protectors of the environment reflecting their poor knowledge of the territory or their indifference to North Shore issues. Let’s not forget that the ultimate mission of some of these organizations is to protect a unique resource exploited by their members.

The comments recently made by these organizations in various media concerning the extension of Route 138 between Tête-à-la-Baleine and La Tabatière betray this lack of understanding of local particularities and total indifference to the needs of the citizens of these territories. The Lower North Shore is largely covered by wetlands, and an honest environmental analysis must separate the impact of infrastructure construction in wetlands from other potential effects on the environment. It’s worth noting that salmon runs have been difficult this year in the vast majority of Quebec rivers, regardless of the presence of construction sites. On the contrary, many rivers have remained excellent salmon rivers in recent decades, despite the presence of bridges and roads.

Furthermore, we reaffirm our confidence in the wildlife officers who are already present on our territories to enforce the hunting and fishing rules in force, as well as in the government experts to determine the most appropriate road corridors.

These pressure groups also fail to mention the environmental impact of current transport and logistics operations. In the absence of road links, all transport is carried out by air or sea, whether for people, food, post, building materials, medicines, vehicles, furniture or any other item. These means of transport have a significant environmental impact, especially when serving remote communities.

In addition to improving the energy efficiency of supply to isolated regions, the construction of road links will open up numerous possibilities for reducing the environmental impact of communities, for example by facilitating recycling and composting on a regional scale, as well as opening up opportunities for sustainable economic development.

More importantly, we fear that the objections expressed reflect an urban-centric vision that ultimately proposes to put the natural territories of isolated regions under a glass bell to the detriment of the local populations that occupy these areas.

Today, it’s no longer a question of opposing economic development to environmental protection, but of building resilient communities that will be able to face up to the many challenges of tomorrow.

Above all, it would be a mistake to think that we are indifferent to environmental issues. The members of the Assemblée des MRC are involved in numerous projects to make their towns and villages greener places to live. Our members and our population are more aware than anyone of the challenges posed by climate change, particularly with the repeated impacts on our regional transport systems.

We all cherish our North Shore territory: from its rivers to its taiga, from its peat bogs to its mountains, but as precious as the virginity of its rivers may be, it is worthless if there are no surrounding communities left to admire them.

On this point, it’s worth remembering that the North Shore continues to lose its population, with a negative migration balance, and that the situation is even more acute in areas without road links.

Poor accessibility is a major irritant that seriously affects the attractiveness of the region.

The construction of basic infrastructure such as roads and bridges is essential to ensure the resilience of our territory for years to come. At the end of the day, we simply believe that North Shore residents, like all other Quebecers, have the right to occupy their territory, to travel on it and to use its resources sustainably.

While these discussions on environmental protection are certainly constructive and worthwhile, we invite environmental protection groups to analyze the situation as a whole, from a long-term perspective and taking into account all the human and territorial factors specific to the North Shore region.

Source : Mrs Gladys Driscoll Martin
Warden
418 787-2016
info@mrcgsl.ca