Stablex: Charette says it’s ‘ironic’ municipalities are opposing the project

Quebec's Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, takes part in question period at the National Assembly on March 12, 2024. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

The Legault government is attacking municipalities that oppose expropriation in Blainville to expand a hazardous waste landfill.

The expansion of Stablex has been the subject of controversy for several weeks, and the CAQ government has tabled Bill 93 to expropriate $17 million from the municipality of Blainville, in the northern suburbs, to provide the company with the land it wants.

However, the Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ) and a number of municipal councils see this as an attack on municipal autonomy, arguing that the government is using drastic measures to strip Blainville of its authority against its will.

Blainville offered another adjacent site, an option that was rejected by both the government and the company.

At a press scrum on Wednesday morning, the Minister for the Environment, Benoit Charette, made a scathing comment about the opponents of expropriation.

Among other things, he pointed out that the towns themselves are dependent on the company’s services.

“I find it ironic that municipalities are mobilizing against the Stablex project, even though they are major customers of Stablex and would have no other alternative for their own waste if Stablex did not exist,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French March 19, 2025.