Environmentalists duel over benefits of REM
Will the proposed electric train for the Montreal region be good or bad for the environment?
It depends on which environmental groups you ask.
Two groups of outspoken environmental activists find themselves on diametrically opposite ends of the debate over a $5.9-billion Réseau électrique métropolitain. Quebec’s pension fund manager, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, has promised to put up $3.1 billion to build a driverless light-rail project that would take over the existing DeuxMontagnes train line, which runs from Central Station downtown through the West Island and to the North Shore. The project would add rail spurs to the existing network to link it to the Trudeau Airport, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue and Brossard on the South Shore.
Announced last April, the contentious project hinges on $2.8 billion in funding from the provincial and federal governments, and there has been much debate about just how beneficial the project will be for the environment.
This month, three environmental groups — the David Suzuki Foundation, Équiterre, and Vivre en Ville — held a news conference to state their endorsement of the project, saying the public should not turn its back on the largest and most ambitious public transit project since the métro 50 years ago.
However, another group of environmentalists has been waging a war to try to kill the project.
Trainsparence is made up of organizations including the Green Coalition, the Sierra Club of Quebec, Sauvons la falaise, Les amis du parc Meadowbrook, Citizens’ Climate Lobby and Sauvons L’AnseÀ-L’Orme. It states the Caisse’s claims of reduced greenhouse gases are overinflated, and it’s alarmed the project’s route goes through some sensitive green spaces. The group also said the project could spur urban sprawl, as it would provide better public transit to the western part of Pierrefonds, where a controversial 6,000-unit development abutting the Anseà-l’Orme forest is proposed.
Lisa Mintz, a co-founder of Trainsparence, said all Montrealers should be concerned about the elevated price tag that comes with the project, because they will be paying the bill in the long term.
“This project can’t possibly pay for itself,” Mintz said. “We have estimated that each trip would cost $20. There’s no way they can charge that amount, so it will have to be subsidized, so everyone will be paying for this. And if you don’t even take the new train, your transit fare will go up.”
The route also passes through the Bois-de-Liesse forest, which is protected by the city, but Mintz said the builders will have to “take bits and pieces” out of the forest to repurpose the abandoned Doney Spur track, so it can be used by the driverless electric train.
“There are so many things wrong with this project,” Mintz said. “I’m an environmentalist, and I understand that not everyone cares about the environment, but I think people will start to care when it’s clear they will have to pay for it.”
She added that the Caisse’s estimate the project will reduce greenhouse gases by 35,000 tonnes per year doesn’t take into account the urban sprawl the project will encourage, and the building materials used.
However, Karel Mayrand, the Quebec director of the David Suzuki Foundation, said his organization has looked carefully at the project, and concluded its benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.
“It’s simple; it’s the biggest project since the métro, and it will definitely provide an alternative to taking a car for the people in the areas,” he said.
Mayrand countered Mintz’s claim of encouraging urban sprawl, saying the areas around the proposed route are already densely populated, and the Pierrefonds West project is likely to get a go-ahead with or without the new train.
“For us, this conforms to our vision of a city where people can travel in public transit that is efficient and electric in transit-oriented development,” Mayrand said.
He added that his group has concerns about the route cutting through green spaces, but pointed out that these areas are already threatened by development.
“We agree that we need guarantees that the areas be protected, but if the project is killed, these areas will continue to be threatened,” Mayrand said.
He pointed out the Caisse has shown willingness to address the concerns of environmentalists by altering its route to pass underneath a protected wetland by building a tunnel near the Technoparc in St-Laurent, and abandoning the original proposal to build a multi-level parking lot in an ecologically sensitive area in SteAnne-de-Bellevue, and instead build it in Kirkland.
Mayrand said that the project will vastly improve the existing transit network, and could lead to a new era of investment in public transit. For too long, he said, the region has been paralyzed by a government that has been unable to provide any major improvements to urban transit, while the road network continues to expand.
“What has to happen now is that there must be an announcement of an extension of the Blue Line, and there is a political pressure for this to happen now,” Mayrand said. “Then all of a sudden, the mobility of the region is vastly improved.”
He said his fear is that saying no could lead to another 20 years of stalemate in transit planning.