Toxic dust in the greater Quebec City area: Enough is enough!

New Democrats launch a petition calling for the Minister of Transport to take responsibility

QUEBEC — Official Opposition leader Tom Mulcair has launched a petition to force the federal Minister of Transport Denis Lebel to take responsibility and stop the toxic dust that is engulfing numerous neighbourhoods of the greater Quebec City Area.

“Minister Lebel can’t just wash his hands of this issue – he must do everything in his power to correct it as soon as possible,” said Mulcair during his visit to Quebec City, where he met with the co-founder of the Initiative citoyenne de vigilance du Port de Québec, Véronique Lalande.

“I would like to applaud Ms. Lalande, whose advocacy focused public attention on this health issue and helped rally the citizens of the Quebec City region to force the Port of Quebec to change their practices,” stated the NDP leader.

For her part, Lalande thanked New Democrats for the petition, which will help maintain pressure on the federal government to seriously address this serious problem. “I appreciate the NDP initiative as an important contribution to the struggle to protect the health of our families and that of the general public,” said Lalande.

New Democrat MP Raymond Côté (Beauport-Limoilou) encouraged citizens to rally together by signing the petition. “From the beginning, public involvement has been impressive. This shows just how much citizens are concerned with this issue.”

The Port of Quebec is part of the Canada Port Authorities – which falls under the supervision of Transport Canada – is tasked with ensuring that environmental laws are respected. The minister, therefore, must ensure that the Port of Quebec respects the established operating standards.

The petition is available at the following address: http://petition.ndp.ca/dust