A dozen mature trees, some over the age of 40, were killed as part of maintenance of the electricity network. If Hydro-Québec invokes the safety and reliability of the service, several residents of Laval deplore an expeditious decision which deprives their living environment with a precious screen of greenery and intimacy.
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“It was not necessary! Lance Francis Prieur, a resident in rue de Chevillon. The trees were 7 or 8 m from the posts. We could have been satisfied with pruning. There they shaved everything. ” The labor relations advisor does not hide his frustration. He says he wrote to Hydro-Québec, then to the energy management, but in vain. “It’s David against Goliath,” he sighs.
Rachel Leblanc, also from the neighborhood, struggles to hide his emotion. “I saw five or six mature trees leaving, some here for 38 years. Birds no longer have a place to nest. This is a whole ecosystem they destroyed. ” She doubts Hydro’s strategy: “It’s easier to shave everything than to maintain, it looks like.”
Photo Francis Prieur
Same story with Nicole, a long -standing resident. “Every five years, Hydro came to cut branches, it was normal. But there … they cut the entire trees! I cried when I saw them doing. One wonders: why, but why? “
The city of Laval of agreement
Hydro-Québec, for its part, defends itself. In a written declaration, the Crown Corporation affirms that the operation was aimed at reducing the frequency of breakdowns, 40% of them being caused by vegetation in the sector.
“The cut trees were likely to come into contact with the threads or fall on it in the event of bad weather,” reads. The company maintains that the residents had been informed that work would be carried out by letter in the spring and that the operation was carried out with the agreement of the City of Laval.
Hydro-Québec also mentions the climate issue: storms are more frequent and more violent. Its 2035 action plan aims to reduce the total number of breakdowns by 35% in the coming years and 30% those related to vegetation by 2028.
An upcoming supervision
According to the energy management law, the management is currently not competence in terms of vegetation control carried out by Hydro-Québec. However, since 2024, the government has authorized Hydro-Québec to carry out trees at its discretion and carry out work on private land without having to request permission from the owners.
That said, Bill 69 recently adopted provides for the development of a regulation supervising this aspect, which must be defined no later than June 7, 2026. The implementation of this regulation will make it possible to mark out the control of vegetation in connection with the electricity distribution network, says the management.
But for the citizens of the rue de Chevillon, the evil is done: the greenery and the birds left, the shadow that the trees provided too. There is only one backyard littered with trees lying on the ground, that the city of Laval must collect in the coming days.
