Event28 March 2025Action

Quebec adopts Bill 93 under closure, taking the Stablex landfill expansion site from Blainville and exempting it from city, regional county and Montreal-area zoning rules

After an extraordinary sitting under the exceptional legislative procedure (closure) that began on 27 March, the National Assembly adopted Bill 93 by 61 votes to 31 on 28 March 2025 (Statutes of Quebec 2025, chapter 7). The law transfers the land to the State for a hazardous-waste deposit site (Stablex's Cell 6), sets compensation of C$17,002,580 for the owner, exempts the project from the zoning and land-use rules of Blainville, the Thérèse-De Blainville regional county municipality (MRC) and the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM), lets the government set different air-quality standards, bars suits and injunctions against the operator until 15 April 2025 and limits judicial review. The government authorized the project the same day (Order in Council 515-2025). La Presse reported that the law was challenged in court as soon as it was adopted.

Date: 28 March 2025
Kind: Legislation
Where: Quebec
Evidence: Action: Something was done: a law switched on, a tariff imposed, money committed. How evidence is weighed
Who: Government of Quebec (acted); Stablex Canada (subject); City of Blainville (target); Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) (target)

Sources

CBC, “Quebec government adopts Blainville toxic waste dump legislation, critics vow to take law to court” (external site), 27 March 2025. source record
Assemblée nationale du Québec, “Journal des débats de l'Assemblée nationale, 27 mars 2025 (séances extraordinaires, projet de loi 93)” (external site), 27 March 2025. source record
La Presse, “Sitôt adoptée, la loi Stablex est contestée devant les tribunaux” (external site), 28 March 2025. source record
Publications du Québec, “Loi concernant notamment le transfert de propriété d'un immeuble de la Ville de Blainville (Projet de loi no 93, 2025, chapitre 7)” (external site), 28 March 2025. source record
Assemblée nationale du Québec, “Projet de loi n° 93, Loi concernant notamment le transfert de propriété d'un immeuble de la Ville de Blainville” (external site), 28 March 2025. source record
Gazette officielle du Québec, “Gazette officielle du Québec: Décret 515-2025 authorizing Stablex's Cell 6 project” (external site), 16 April 2025. source record

Laws and agreements

Quebec Bill 93: An Act respecting, in particular, the transfer of ownership of an immovable of Ville de Blainville (Bill 93 (QC); S.Q. 2025, c. 7): this event is its “Royal Assent” stage

Projects

Stablex Cell 6 hazardous-waste landfill (Blainville)

Claims that rest on this event

SupportsMechanism
Quebec overrode opposition to protect existing industry (Bill 93 for the Stablex waste site, passed under closure; Bill 11 with relief for the Horne smelter) but avoided a fight over new projects: its fast-track Bill 5 lapsed. The only party that pledged in writing to bring back a Bill 5-style law, the outgoing CAQ, won no seats in the 5 October 2026 election, which left the Parti Québécois short of a majority with 59 of 127 seats (preliminary results).
Override used for an existing facility.

How it bears on the outcome

Explanation	Fit	Why
C0 Ottawa as victim	Neutral weak	This is a Quebec government law on a hazardous-waste site; it says nothing about how Ottawa responds to US pressure.
C1 Ottawa opportunistic	Neutral weak	A provincial fast-track justified by waste-disposal urgency does not bear on whether Ottawa is using the crisis.
C2 Ottawa in no hurry	Neutral weak	A provincial law passed under closure says nothing about Ottawa's pace in trade talks or growth policy.
C3 Ottawa coordinating with Washington	Neutral weak	Opposition members noted the operator's US parent amid the tariff dispute, but the decision was Quebec's, and no link to Ottawa or Washington is observed.