(Ottawa) The MP for Mirabel, Jean-Denis Garon, fears that the site where the company Construction Nexus dumps soil in Kanesatake will become contaminated like that of G
Like residents of the Mohawk territory, he is concerned about the harmful effects that potential contaminants could have on the environment and on their health. “My email box is full today. These are citizens of Kanesatake who are writing to me to express their concerns, he says. The first victims in this are the residents of Kanesatake and we can never repeat this enough. »
He wrote a letter to the Minister of Indigenous Services, Patty Hajdu, to request an assessment of the soil dumped by Construction Nexus in order to assess the consequences it could have on Lac des Deux-Montagnes.
La Presse revealed Monday that trucks from the Laval company Construction Nexus were dumping loaded soil into a construction site in the Montreal region on Mohawk territory. Band council leaders who feared water contamination were violently attacked. One of them even received a punch from the site owner. Residents denounce the inaction of governments to ensure safety in the community.
“I think we have an obligation upstream to first ensure that we are not reproducing a G
“The situation cannot continue like this,” replied Simon Ross, communications director for Minister Hajdu in a written statement.
“The police have a role to play in enforcing Quebec’s environmental rules. The federal government is ready to play its role and collaborate in all possible ways so that we do not find ourselves in the current situation again,” he added.
This is a complex situation that affects various ministries at several levels of government, recalled the federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault.
“The fact that it is on indigenous territory is partly a responsibility of Quebec, but also a responsibility of the federal government, but we will work as we have done in other files with the government of Quebec and the ‘all federal ministries involved,’ he said upon arrival at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.
The federal government could intervene under the Fisheries Act, which contains provisions for the protection of aquatic life. It provides for fines ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 for a first offence and prison sentences of one to two years.
