Report - Agence canadienne d'évaluation environnementale

Opinions of participants
There is a close relation between the notions of social acceptability and energy
opportunity. As such, the drawbacks linked to a public service meeting the needs
of the community (e.g. a highway) will obtain a greater degree of social approval
than those stemming from a private project whose first objective is to be profitable
in terms of investments and financially pleasing to shareholders.
(Mr. Bernard Vachon, DM427.1, p. 5)
Another added: “how can we, through inaction, consent to having families
expropriated and having other citizens leave our community for good to satisfy
insatiable energy needs, specifically those of our southern neighbours” (Mr. Rosaire
Saint-Pierre, DM412, p. 6). Moreover, some were of the opinion that demonstrating
natural gas energy needs would further justify relocating residents living in the area
required to build the project: “Having an urgent need for this gas would make it more
acceptable to me. I would be ready to move, but I am far from being convinced of this
at the moment” (Ms. Pierrette Bélanger, DT24, p. 14).
Another participant added:
I think that, if the project was really necessary, […] of course, then that would be a
good reason […] in my opinion the only reason which can justify the expropriation of
citizens. However, in this case, with the project as it is, I don’t believe it’s necessary.
(Ms. Isabelle Carrier, DT17, p. 87)
According to some participants, the fact that Rabaska is a private investment
consortium represented a negative factor in the project’s justification, and as such, an
obstacle to its success. For the Coalition Rabat-joie, “we cannot state that a private
project is in Québec’s interest if it isn’t treated as such overall” (Mr. Yves St-Laurent,
DT19, p. 12).
Weighing the pros and cons
To establish the social acceptability of the Rabaska project, some participants 1
suggested instead weighing its pros and cons. For one participant:
The decision to accept or reject the project must be carefully thought out after
having weighed the pros and cons. To be sure, a project’s perception can vary
markedly from one individual to the next, depending on their expectations. As
such, what can be deemed as acceptable by one person may be deemed as
unacceptable by another.
(Mr. Sylvain Marcoux, DM92, p. 1)
1. Ms. Monique Morissette, DM209, p. 3; Mr. Denis Levasseur, DM290, p. 2; Mr. Patrick Langlois, DM152, p. 1;
Mr. Éric Tétreault, DM233, p. 1.
64 Rabaska Project – Implementation of an LNG Terminal and Related Infrastructure