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Mobilization around Davidson Energy

Mobilization around Davidson Energy

23 June 2020 à 12:00 am

About 80 people gathered this Monday evening to support the Davidson Energy project. The participants also made it clear that they would like to see an active company again on the site of what was the Davidson Sawmill.

The Davidson Power project, which aims to combine a co-generation project and restart the sawmill operations, could take up to three years to be operational.

The mayors of Mansfield and Fort-Coulonge, Gilles Dionne and Gaston Allard, highlighted the importance of the initiative for the local economy and the creation of jobs. It is estimated that 250 jobs could be created if Davidson Energy succeeds in making the co-generation project a reality.

The promoter behind this project, Bruno St-Cyr, says he has everything needed to start it, except a supply guarantee (GA), which would allow him to obtain wood from the public forest. Davidson Power already had a GA in the past, but lost it to other businesses because Davidson Power was unable to pay the royalties.

For Pontiac MNA André Fortin, the Davidson Energy project could take a strategic place in the forest industry in the Outaouais, given its collaboration with Hydro-Québec.

The profitability of the project has also been emphasized on several occasions by the Warden of the MRC Pontiac, Jane Toller, who affirms that the Minister of Forests, Wildlife and Parks of Quebec, Pierre Dufour sees the project of a good eye given the prospect of monetization of the project.

In order to support the initiative, a cooperative is once again trying to set up to give support for the Davidson Energy project, as was done at the time for the Jovalco (Litchfield) project, but which did not not see the light of day. The former mayor of Fort-Coulonge and member of this project to set up a cooperative, Hector Soucie, explained the reasons that led them to retry this idea of coop.

The promoter of the project, Bruno St Cyr, who said he was very satisfied with the rally held Monday evening, presented Pascal Dupuis, a partner of Énergie Davidson who also has a co-generation project in the vicinity of Valleyfield. According to Bruno St-Cyr, this experience should help advance the initiative located in the Davidson sector in Mansfield. Bruno St-Cyr explained how he wants to position Davidson Energy.

To listen to the full interviews with Bruno St-Cyr, Gilles Dionne, Gaston Allard, André Fortin and the other clips collected by CHIP 101.9 during this rally click on their names.