Trees were planted in the city of Mascouche on Saturday as part of a rally against the Energy East Pipeline project.
The pipeline, which would bring Alberta oil to refineries in the east coast and 700 km of which would run through Quebec, faces opposition by environmental activists and some politicians who say that studies showing the project is safe are still missing.
“It’s a matter of health,” said Laval Mayor Marc Demers. “Plus, there’s a possibility of accidents and I don’t think it’s the economy of the future.”
Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe, who was also on hand for the rally, has made opposition to the pipeline a pillar of his campaign.
“There’s no social acceptability, First Nations were not consulted and there’s no money to make,” he said. “The same reasons Trudeau and Mulcair opposed Keystone and Northern Gateway but say yes for Energy East… We just don’t understand that.”
In the first English-language federal leaders debate, Mulcair called Energy East a “win-win-win.”
However, Mulcair has also said that he would impose a much more stringent system for evaluating the environmental impact of Energy East.
