Quebec politicians, environmentalists hail demise of controversial Energy East pipeline

Politicians and environmentalists of all stripes in Quebecare welcoming TransCanada's decision to terminate the Energy East pipeline project, where opposition to the proposal was fervent and widespread.

The pipeline would have carried 1.1million barrels of crude oil a day from Alberta and Saskatchewan to New Brunswick, passing through Montreal, along the St. Lawrence River through Lvis, up to Cacounabefore veering east.

The Calgary-based energy company announcedThursday it won't go ahead with the plan.

• TransCanada won't proceed with Energy East pipeline

The project was not popular in Quebec, where protesters notably crashed National Energy Board hearings into the proposal, leading to thecancellation of those hearings in August of last year.

In a tweet, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderresaid he was "proud" that the project is being dropped, saying he, other Montreal-area mayors and citizens' groups played a key role in getting it cancelled.

His commentshave spurred a flurry of criticism from other Canadian politicians and mayors.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre calls end of Energy East pipeline a 'victory'

7 years ago

Duration 0:37

After TransCanada announced it won't proceed with the Energy East pipeline, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre calls the decision a "victory."

Coderre has said he believes the pipeline represents significant environmental threats and too few economic benefits for greater Montreal.

In Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures,a municipality about 25 kilometres west ofQuebec City along the St. Lawrence River, where the pipeline was supposed to pass through, the mayor said the announcement was excellent.

"Any kind of spill, leak or anything could have had catastrophic consequences here," Sylvain Juneau told Radio-Canada.

"And we were always firmly against this."

'A great victory'

Natural Resources Minister Pierre Arcandsaid he is not surprised by the company's decision, considering it had suspended the process a month ago.

Environment Minister David Heurteldetailed his frustrations with TransCanada, saying the project had left Quebecers with an "enormous amount of questions" but the province was repeatedly left without answers.

"TransCanada made the decision that it felt it had to make," he said.

Parti Qubcois Leader Jean-Franois Lise said he considers the decisionto be "a great victory," adding that his party never wanted the project to pass.

QubecSolidaireMNA GabrielNadeau-Duboisalso rejoiced.

The former student activist haddonated his winningsfor his Governor General's Literary Awardto a group fighting against the pipeline and said it was the best $25,000 he ever invested.

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Environmentalists welcome decision

Hailing it as a step forward in embracing renewable energy, environmentalists in Quebec and Canada are also welcomingTransCanada'sdecision.

"It's Quebec that stopped this project," said Anne-Cline Guyon, a spokesperson for environmental organizationSTOP oloduc.

The announcement also sends a strong message to other companies in the energy sector, according toGuyon.

"It's an outdated industry," she said. "We have to move toward renewable energy."

Greenpeace Canada spokesperson Patrick Bonincalled the decision "excellent," saying TransCanadapulling the plug on Energy East proves that citizen mobilization works.

• Notley 'deeply disappointed' by Energy East cancellation, which Jean calls 'an attack onAlberta'

Mohawk chief is cautiously optimistic

SergeOtisSimon, grand chief of the Kanesatake Mohawk Council, reacted to the announcement with"shock, surprise [and]jubilation."

But he's stillfeeling cautious.

Simon said he believes his allies out west fighting "tooth and nail" against the project, coupled with the united front in Quebec,madeinvestors think twice before contributing their money.

But with the Kinder Morgan andKeystone XL projects still scheduled to move ahead, he said the fight isn't over.

"The cancelling of the Energy East pipeline may have bought First Nations, and humanity, a little more time, but there's still a lot to do," he said.

In September, TransCanada was granted a 30-day suspension of its application so it couldre-evaluate the viability of the pipeline.

The suspension came after the regulator, the National Energy Board, expanded its planned review of the project, saying it will assess its indirect contributions to upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions.

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