Hundreds of people marched through east end Montreal Sunday to protest the reconfiguration of the Shell refinery.
Workers and their families were joined by politicians in a bid to keep the refinery operational.
800 people are expected to lose their jobs at the end of the year, when the plant will be changed into a storage depot for fuel imported from abroad.
"It's really sad," said Nathalie Lachapelle, who works at the refinery. "I'm hoping they'll find a buyer and our jobs will be saved."
New long-term corporate strategy
In January Shell said that operating the refinery was no longer a part of its long-term business strategy.
Despite making its own petroleum products at the site for 80 years, Shell has decided making gasoline and heating oil in Quebec no longer makes sense.
It's a decision that Jean-Claude Rocheleau cannot understand.
"The market is here, it's in Quebec, why should we import product from outside to supply the market of Quebec?" asked the United Oil Worker.
Trying to find buyer
Politicians, who recognize the $200 million annual input to the economy made by the refinery, are trying to save the plant.
"It's not a depanneur right at the corner, but it's an asset, and we have to find a way to sell this asset," said Montreal Councillor Richard Deschamps.
Shell was trying on its own to sell the refinery for months, but got nowhere.
Now politicians are trying to help out, but they have a deadline.
Shell says that if a buyer is not produced by June 1, it will go ahead with the transformation.
After becoming a storage depot, Shell estimates it will only employ 30 people at the plant.
