Recently in Montréal-Est, I saw the downside of a post-oil future. The centre of this on-island suburb is occupied entirely by industrial land, some of it still active, but most of it abandoned. As of 2010, with the departure of Shell, almost all the oil refineries have closed, leading to 3,500 direct and indirect job losses. The population of Montréal-Est has declined from almost 6,000 in 1960 to just 3,800 today.
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