The Decibel - A Dollarama executive, a luxury home and a World Heritage site

Episode Date: September 28, 2023

Saint Lucia is known for its natural beauty, but the most iconic part of the island is along its southwest shore. Twin volcanic peaks – called the Pitons – rise up out of the ocean. The UNESCO World Heritage site is featured on postcards, literature, and even the Saint Lucian flag.They are also the site of a controversy involving a Dollarama executive who is trying to expand his luxury home on the mountainside. Investigative reporter Tavia Grant explains how this Canada-based businessman’s development exposed a lack of protections for this iconic site.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [e-mail]

So the Piton area in St. Lucia is a national treasure. That's Globe investigative reporter Tavia Grant. They're considered an iconic landmark. Their image is so important to the country, they appear in postcards, stationery, beer labels, in poetry, in literature. They're even on St. Lucia's national flag. These two mountains are covered in forests. There's also hot springs, and in the ocean below, there are coral reefs. This area is teeming with animal and plant life. And if you ask someone from the island, they'll tell you these are more than

just mountains. There are some things that are sacrosanct. The Twin Peaks and the area represent, that's how people know St. Lucia. Anywhere in the world you go, they know us by those Twin Peaks. They are so important that the Pitons are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But just because they have that designation doesn't mean that they're pristine. So if you picture one of the two peaks, this giant mountain, from the sea just looks like a forested green expanse. But as soon as you get up a little higher, either a drone or a bird's eye view, or there's quite a few airplanes that go over. Clearly visible is an L-shaped house with gardens and it does stand out a little bit because there's nothing else in that area.

And that house? It's owned by an executive at a Canadian-based company, Dollarama. And it's caught up in a controversy. I do not support the development in the pitons. I do not support any development in the pythons. We don't support any type of development in the pitons in South Palestine. The development on the pythons that I do not support in any form or way. And I do not support the building of any development on the pitons. Today, Tevye is here to explain how this situation has potentially opened the doors to even more development on this protected site.

I'm Mainika Raman-Wilms, and this is The Decibel from The Globe and Mail. Tevye, thank you so much for joining me. It's great to be here. So, Tavia, I thought it might be helpful if we just start by talking about the Canadian-based executive who finds himself at the center of this controversy in St. Lucia. Who is he? So, Jeffrey Robillard is head of imports for Dollarama, which is Canada's largest dollar store chain. So he helps source international products. He's based in Montreal and he owns property in St. Lucia, which we will get to.

Dollarama has done really well during and since the pandemic. There's more people that have turned to discount shopping in this era of high inflation. So he's done well as a result. When we calculated how he's done lately, he's netted $126 million pre-tax on sales of stock since the company's IPO 14 years ago. Last year, he earned about $1.5 million with a $500,000 bonus. Okay, so Robillard has this property here, which we're getting into. But this land that he has his property on has a UNESCO World Heritage designation.

So just remind us, Tavia, what does that mean? So that land got the status of a World Heritage Site back in 2004. They cited its superlative beauty. The World Heritage designation refers to places that are deemed of outstanding universal value to humanity, and that they should be protected for future generations to enjoy. There's a whole bunch of UNESCO sites among them. We all know them, but there's pyramids of Egypt, there's the Taj Mahal in India, there's the Grand Canyon. In Canada, there's pyramids of Egypt. There's the Taj Mahal in India. There's the Grand Canyon. In Canada, there's like Lanzo Meadows in Newfoundland. Yeah, they're all over.

There's more than a thousand of them around the world. And it has huge significance for tourism, for a country's reputation. It can also be a point of huge national pride. And like when we're talking about the Pétanque specifically, so yes, very beautiful. But what I guess, what else makes it so important to give it this kind of designation? Well, in theory, it means more protection of the site, which is of huge importance. And it also gives access to funds that help in that effort. Okay. designation. This is a designation from the UN. There's all these sites all over the world. So how do you buy land on a UNESCO World Heritage Site? It seems like it would be kind of an area to protect, right? Well, Mr. Robillard acquired the land in 2016. He bought it from a St. Lucian family. So it was a private sale. It's a 79-acre property property and it sits at the base of one of those peaks, the Gros Piton. It did previously have a dwelling on it. It wasn't just pristine. There was a house.

There's also a river. There's part of a hiking trail. There's some ruins on the property, an aqueduct, a water wheel. His first application to build was an 11,000 square foot house. That was the application in the place of the previous dwelling, and that was rejected. Okay, so he wanted to build that initially, and they said, no, you can't build this giant house. So he was given, he built a smaller one then. So he said 3,500 square feet? Yeah, he got approval for the smaller home of 3,500 square feet, and he began construction on that in 2019. So, Tavia, why are we talking about this now? So even back then throughout, there's been some local concerns, but he also applied to build another home on this space of 6,500 square feet, along with a pool in the valley at a lower elevation.

Okay, so this is more recent. He wants to build this now, essentially. Yes. Yeah, that was from a few years ago, this secondary application or for phase two of this construction. But that was rejected by the local building authority, which said this was in an essentially a no-build zone. The authority told me that there were real concerns about the visual impact on the site. And ultimately, this matter ended up in court. Mr. Robillard filed a case against St. Lucia's Development Control Authority. And so this went through the courts.

What did the courts ultimately decide? So the ruling is that the government's building authority was wrong in denying Mr. Robillard's building application. The judge faulted the government for not enshrining in law a set of guidelines that are used for managing the area. And the high court judge ruled that unless the government made such a move, quote, St. Lucia may very well lose its standing as a World Heritage Site. So the court ruling, so basically,

it's not like Robillard is allowed to build now necessarily, right? So I guess where are things at in that area? Yeah. The ruling said that the application that was rejected a few years ago has to now be reconsidered. So they're not giving a green light, but they also said that the DCA was wrong to deny it and that these guidelines aren't enough to deny an application. So it does have to go back to the control authority to decide what to do next. Okay. And I guess because these are only guidelines, they're not law. That's why it's not enough to basically to knock it down.

Yes. Okay. But what are the ramifications of that decision? The court basically saying that they were wrong to deny the building there. Yeah. So in a narrow sense, the court basically saying that they were wrong to deny the building there. Yeah, so in a narrow sense, the ruling means that the DCA, the Development Control Authority, does have to reconsider Mr. Robillard's application. But in that wider sense, it could also open the door to applicants who are seeking new approvals. Mr. Robillard's lawyer told me that they're happy with the decision, but his exact quote was, this is the troublesome aspect. All right. So that is what's been happening with the government and this whole court proceeding. But I want to ask you about people who live in this area, Tavia.

How have the residents of St. Lucia responded to all of this. Yeah, so there have been a litany of concerns over the years, and much of that has played out on social media in the past few months, but also the past few years. There's been petitions. There was one that was sent to UNESCO. It now has more than 20,000 signatures. Some petitions against? Petitions showing concern. Some of them are called Save the Piton. So petitions that are concerned with development. And in particular, the one that was sent to UNESCO does cite Mr. Robillard by name. Some of the concerns have been about public access.

Local residents and workers have long used that beach area and the hiking trail. And they say at times these have been blocked by construction equipment or fences or signs. And that's really raised the ire of people. So this is supposed to be like publicly accessible beach land, hiking land, and people couldn't access them then? Yes. And it's worth noting that the public does have the right of access to St. Lucia's beaches under what is called the Queen's Chain. So there's no private ownership for a strip of coastal land above a high watermark. So it is public access.

And at times they have felt like that access has been blocked. And they have been very vocal and very, very worried about that. And there are also broader concerns in St. Lucia and throughout the whole region that foreign investors are increasingly getting access to precious sites and squeezing local people out. And of course, you know, with the history of St. Lucia, right, this was a former colony. So I'm sure with that in mind, you know, that's part of the context for how people are responding today. That is part of the context, yes. What has Robillard said in response to all

of this, to these complaints, especially from residents? So I did ask him. I left phone messages. I sent emails. I went to his communications people at Dollarama, and I sent an actual physical letter. You were trying. I was trying. He didn't respond directly, but his lawyer and his representative in St. Lucia did agree to speak to me. And it's the first time they've spoken to a reporter on this. They said right off the top, this issue has been fraught with misinformation. On the question of access, they said that although vehicles were temporarily blocked from the beach, there was always pedestrian access to the beach. And they said that the trail closing was just temporary for maintenance. The lawyer, Peter Foster, emphasized that Mr. Robillard is a conservationist

and that he too is concerned about maintaining that UNESCO designation. And he said that future development would not be highly visible and the plan is just for the family to use it for private reasons. We'll be right back after this message. All right, so Tavia, in the court ruling that said that the St. Lucian government had to recognize Robillard's application, what guidelines does the government use to regulate development in this area? They're called the Limits of Acceptable Change.

So they're from 2013, and they set out guidelines for development. They list zones and limits and dictate things like building height restrictions, building size, the color of roofs and walls, and visibility assessments. And for years, they've been the guide in deciding whether to approve or reject plans. And you said the guide is this law? They were never enshrined in law. I guess the obvious question, like, why haven't they turned the guidelines into law yet? Like, you would think the government would want that kind of protection. We did ask the prime minister for an interview and we didn't get a response. From a recent government report,

it looked like they had secured funding to transform these recommendations into legally binding regulations. The chair of the building authority told me that it's a work in progress. And we've been talking specifically about this one guy developing on this site, but are there other developments on the Pitons as well?

Yeah, it's important to know. I mean, not in that exact spot, but there have been and there are other developments, some relating to tourism. And those also have sparked a lot of concern from UNESCO. So this is not the only one, and nor is this the only time that there's been those concerns over the past few years. This has come up again and again. I'm wondering about this, Lotavia, because wouldn't having a UNESCO label come with certain rules, I guess? What are the rules set up by the UN here that need to be abided by?

Yeah, because in order to maintain that designation, the site has to be protected. So this means that the visual attractiveness or the various viewpoints of the piton have to be maintained. Governments have to file periodic reports on the site and new activities are also subject to environmental impact assessment. So there's ongoing monitoring, there's site visits, there's regular meetings, and they can be placed on an in danger list. And they can also be removed altogether. And what about like coming back to the people who live there, Tavia, like what does what does the UNESCO designation mean to them? What's the significance of that? Yeah, I talked to quite a few people there and you can hear the emotion and the connection in their voices. I should say not everybody wants to keep the designation. It's not like there's a monolithic view, but based on the people that I spoke with and letters to the editor, the petitions, the local media coverage,

so many people are proud of that designation and they want to ensure that that site is protected. We talked before about how this is more than just two mountains. There's natural forests. There's the coral reefs. But it also has a rich history, and there's indigenous populations that have long considered it, and they still do a sacred site of worship. There are petroglyphs and artifacts in the area. And in the 18th century, sugar estates stood there. So some people escaping slavery eventually settled at the foot of the

Gros Piton in a community called Fonjon Libre, which is Valley of the Free People. Wow. What has the St. Lucian government said it's going to do about all of this? They haven't said much. UNESCO has sent a letter to the government. They are looking for clarification about all of this. They sent that letter in May. There hasn't been much in the public domain since then. I asked the government for comment and didn't hear back, but it's safe to say they are weighing what to do next. Have they said anything specifically about the UNESCO designation?

Because this seems to be kind of a big part of the issue. Like, do they want to keep it? Do they not care about having it? What's their stance? There's been repeated assurances that they will aim to protect that status and they will do what it takes to protect it. So there have been assurances over the years. They are still considering whether to appeal the court's decision that I mentioned. UNESCO told me that there's a chance that there's a monitoring mission that will look at new development, and that they may be meeting soon to consider the extent to which that development might affect the World Heritage status. So more of this to come.

Okay. I mean, I would imagine there's also another side to it, because development probably means local jobs, some money. So I guess there's a bit of a balancing thing that they're trying to figure out as the government. Yes, exactly. And that is part of the Balancing Act. And in a place where jobs can be scarce, that is another key point. Just to wrap up here, Tavia, we've talked about a lot of different elements in this story, but where do things go from here? What will you be watching? I'm going to be looking to see if the government does respond. I'm interested to see if there's a way they can speed up the process of turning this into law.

So I'll be watching that and seeing if other developers do follow suit, if there are more applications. And I'll be also back in touch with UNESCO to see if any of this does indeed put this at risk. That has been the main fear. It hasn't happened yet. The site has not been placed on the in danger list, but I'll be monitoring that. Tavia, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me. Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here. That's it for today. I'm Mainika Raman-Wells. Our producers are Madeline White, Cheryl Sutherland, and Rachel Levy-McLaughlin. David Crosby edits the show.

Adrienne Chung is our senior producer, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.