{"id":112599,"date":"2025-09-01T20:05:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T20:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/112599\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T20:05:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T20:05:08","slug":"western-quebec-municipalities-vote-overwhelmingly-against-graphite-mine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/112599\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Quebec municipalities vote overwhelmingly against graphite mine"},"content":{"rendered":"

People living in five municipalities in western Quebec\u00a0have overwhelmingly voted against a proposed graphite mine in the area\u00a0in a referendum held Sunday.<\/p>\n

B.C.-based Lomiko Metals wanted to mine graphite around Lac B\u00e9langer just west of Duhamel, Que., about\u00a0about 80 kilometres northeast of Gatineau.<\/p>\n

The area has a combined population of nearly 6,000.<\/p>\n

The municipalities of Duhamel and Lac-Simon showed the strongest opposition this weekend,\u00a0with 98 per cent of voters casting ballots against the project.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0the municipalities of Lac-des-Plages, St-\u00c9mile-de-Suffolk, and Ch\u00e9n\u00e9ville, more than 90 per cent of voters also said no to the mine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In all, 2,754 votes were cast against the mine, with just 115 people voting in favour.<\/p>\n

Duhamel Mayor David Pharand, who has opposed the project for years,\u00a0said he was impressed by the results.<\/p>\n

“I can assure the population that the percentage of the results of this referendum will have a major impact on the decision of the government and the action that will be taken,” Pharand\u00a0told CBC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We will work based on those numbers with our political,\u00a0federal,\u00a0and provincial members of parliament to see that this project is not funded.”<\/p>\n

The referendum followed three public meetings held since 2024 in which nearly 1,000 citizens participated, according to information from an alliance representing the five municipalities.<\/p>\n

\"ADuhamel, Que., Mayor David Pharand, the spokesperson for an alliance opposing the Lomiko Metals Inc. graphite mine, speaks to a Radio-Canada reporter on July 21, 2024. (Jean-S\u00e9bastien Marier\/Radio-Canada)<\/p>\n

In July, Lomiko Metals announced it had received a permit to begin more advanced exploration work on the La Loutre Mine from Quebec’s\u00a0Ministry of Natural Resources.<\/p>\n

A presentation to the company’s investors said\u00a0that a pre-feasibility study would\u00a0be done in early 2026.<\/p>\n

Before Quebec’s last provincial election in 2022, Premier\u00a0Fran\u00e7ois Legault indicated that his CAQ government would not carry out the mining project without what’s referred to in the province as “social acceptability.”<\/p>\n

Then last September, the province announced it would not fund the mine<\/a> because it did not meet their standards for local support.<\/p>\n

Lomiko Metals had not responded to the results of Sunday’s referendum at the time of publication.<\/p>\n

But in a statement last year, the company said it was surprised and disappointed the funding would not go ahead, saying the Legault government appeared to be making “pre-emptive conclusions about the project” before the necessary studies had been\u00a0completed.<\/p>\n

Other opposition groups had also voiced concerns\u00a0about potential military applications of the mine, especially after Lomiko Metals secured funding from the Pentagon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Results will be respected, says MNA<\/p>\n

The area’s municipal and provincial representatives have both said they’ll respect\u00a0the results of the referendum.<\/p>\n

In a French news release,\u00a0Paul-Andr\u00e9 David, the prefect of the Papineau MRC, said the opposition\u00a0speaks to the environmental concerns residents have with the mine.<\/p>\n

“The MRC will have to take the necessary measures to protect the interests of the community, by demanding that governments ensure that the sustainable management of water, air and landscapes is at the heart of discussions,” the release said.<\/p>\n

Prior to polls closing, Mathieu Lacombe, the CAQ’s\u00a0MNA for Papineau,\u00a0said in French\u00a0that “citizens can be assured that I will always side with them.”<\/p>\n

“If it is against the mine, it will confirm what I have felt on the ground for several years. If it is in favour of the mine, we will have to talk again among elected officials in Papineau to see how we handle the future,” he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Lacombe later called the results “unequivocal” in a French-language Facebook post and said he’d keep working to\u00a0“ensure that the will of citizens is respected.”<\/p>\n

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