Seeking the hidden agenda
behind the Technoparc
Why are authorities inflexible on an issue that can be easily resolved to everyone’s benefit?
By Georges Dupras
December 1, 2021
I was always told to choose my fights, and avoid the many occasions when frivolous battles would simply exhaust my limited energy, and keep me from more important issues. In other words, avoid fighting windmills.
That said, I can’t understand why our Federal Government is investing so much energy in support of the proposed Medicom mask production facility, earmarked for an area referred to as the Technoparc, and located just west of the Trudeau International Airport. This initiative, proposed by Meltech Innovation Canada Inc., is to be located in what is the last unprotected marshland on the island of Montréal.
… I can’t understand why our Federal Government is investing so much energy in support of the proposed Medicom mask production facility, earmarked for an area referred to as the Technoparc… located in what is the last unprotected marshland on the island of Montréal.
Despite much opposition from naturalists and environmentalists, Federal officials refuse to accept that the land in contention is rich in biodiversity and is a highly sensitive feeding area for the Monarch butterfly – a vulnerable species at risk. It is also an important source of survival for many other species.
The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, the Federal Minister of the Environment and for Climate Change, does not feel that the habitat, owned in large part by the Federal Government and managed by Aeroport de Montréal (ADM), merits a special designation. We are still waiting for the Minister to make available an independent scientific inventory of the area’s biodiversity. Considering the number of suitable and empty buildings that are available in the immediate area of the Technoparc, one is compelled to ask why the Government is so obsessed with this particular, and unique, wetland?
In the wake of Prime Minister Trudeau’s insistence on open government, the aftermath of Cop-26, droughts, flooding, mudslides and forest fires in British Columbia, recurring pandemics and ongoing climate disturbances, one is compelled to ask; is there a hidden agenda here? What is the fascination with these few acres? Why are authorities inflexible on an issue that can be easily resolved to everyone’s benefit?
‘Considering the number of suitable and empty buildings that are available in the immediate area of the Technoparc, one is compelled to ask why the Government is so obsessed with this particular, and unique, wetland?’
There is little hope in any success coming from Cope-26 when we can’t even resolve an issue as obvious as this one. It is time that our elected leaders come clean and tell us of the hidden agenda behind this folly.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of WestmountMag.ca or its publishers.
Feature image: Kathy Servian on Unsplash
Read also: other articles by Georges R. Dupras
Georges R. Dupras has advocated for animals for over fifty years. A member of the International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA), a Director of the Animal Alliance of Canada (AAC), Quebec Representative of Zoocheck Canada and past Board member of the Canadian SPCA, he worked on the original Save the Seal campaign in 1966 that culminated in the founding of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in 1969. Georges Dupras has published two books, Values in Conflict and the eBook Ethics, a Human Condition, and currently lives in Montreal, Canada.
How sad that so much time and energy of activists must be spent on a “no-brainer” issue, especially in these ominous times of deteriorating bio-diversity; if our law-makers at all levels have not the political will to save this last remaining unprotected
marshland in Montreal, what hope is there for our planet? Mr. Dupras is correct when
he speaks of hidden agenda…is this another case of “follow the money?”
Mr. Dupras is right to question what is behind this adamant stand to build a mask factory on land which is so precious to the Monarch butterfly and many other insect, bird, and mammal species. So many voices have been raised in legitimate opposition to this impending destruction of the butterfly fields and better options exist – so what is really going on here?
Excellent question! What is the real reason for the federal government’s silence on this issue? Wracking one’s brain comes up with a large sized zero! Even more mysterious is the fact that Steven Guilbeault of Equiterre fame is now Minister of the Environment! This seemed to be such an obvious choice so where did things go wrong? We deserve answers – honest answers!
How can the Honourable Steven Guilbeault (the Federal Minister of the Environment and for Climate Change) not understand that this area, the last unprotected marshland on the island of Montreal, merits a special designation? What else is at play here?
The Monarch butterfly is listed as a special concern under the Canadian “Species at Risk Act” and was recommended for listing as “Endangered” in December 2016. Surely, we must do our utmost to preserve their feeding areas – not destroy them!
Follow the money sounds right. I can’t believe that the heads of elected leaders would be buried so deeply in the sand that they cannot understand what the issue is, and what should be considered a priority. If we lose the Monarch, surely we lose a part of ourselves: soon it will be too late to complain that we should have done something and that there was a price to pay for our apathy. The time for real action on preserving our wetlands and our critical ecosystems is now.
Yes our federal government seems to be having a lot of trouble maintaining focus on climate change and protection of our planet. How often it appears to be a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing but lately I think it is just $$$ and short term votes and patronage. Ever since Jodi Raybould Wilson was dismissed for her ethical stand, I have had serious doubts about some of our Fed leaders and their advisors. It will be a shame to have to add the name of Steven Guilbeault to this list.
Why do they even need an independent study ?
Because those in government are unsure and know it is not a good location ?
Leave nature be and let it become richer in biodiversity.