Quebec will not reconsider its rejection of the LNG gas project in the Saguenay, despite recent calls – from lobbyists and conservative ranks – to increase Canadian oil production to support Europe, in the wake of the war in Ukraine .
Posted at 3:29 p.m.
“The advice given regarding GNL-Québec is final. It is therefore not possible to review our decision on this project, ”maintained Thursday the office of the provincial Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charrette, through his press secretary Rosalie Tremblay-Cloutier.
Behind the scenes, government sources point out that it would be all the more counterproductive for the Government of Quebec to backtrack, the latter having already announced its intention this fall to “definitely give up extracting hydrocarbons on its territory”. The organization Investissement Québec has already announced that it will not finance projects related to hydrocarbons.
In the office of the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, spokesperson Geneviève Tremblay adds that “the best way to no longer depend on imported gas and oil is by reducing our consumption”. “It’s true for Quebec and it’s also part of the solutions identified by European leaders. What we see is that a shift towards renewable energies, the energies of freedom, will accelerate in Europe. And it is in this niche, where Quebec excels, that we can help in the short and medium term,” she analyzes.
The crisis in Ukraine has provoked many reactions about Canadian oil and gas production in recent days, especially from the side of the oil lobby and elected Conservatives, who believe that the upheavals in the energy market give new arguments to the restarting oil exploration projects.
In an open letter published on Tuesday, Conservative Party leadership candidate and MP for Carleton, Pierre Poilievre, stated in part that Canada cannot “ignore what fuels Putin’s power in the face of the opposition: oil and gas. natural”. “There are proposed projects across Canada that can unlock new markets for that same liquefied natural gas. Take the example of LNG Newfoundland and Labrador. […] Accelerating this project and others like it would help Europe get rid of its dependence on Russian gas,” he said.
“Stop helping” Putin
A few days earlier, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney posted a similar message on social media. “If Canada really wants to help disarm Putin, then let’s build pipelines!” Alberta is ready, willing and able to provide the energy needed to oust Russia from world markets,” he wrote, calling on Ottawa to “stop helping” Vladimir Putin “by killing pipelines.”
In Quebec, the leader of the Conservative Party (PCQ), Éric Duhaime, also argued that the crisis in Ukraine demonstrates “to what extent oil and gas are political weapons”. “If they were produced at home, not only would they not go up, but they would be among the cheapest in America and 100% conflict-proof,” he wrote.
“We should revive the LNG QC project in Saguenay. Do we not have a moral obligation to help Europe obtain supplies elsewhere and thus undermine the Russian energy advantage? Bonus: we would get rich. If it wasn’t clear before, it should be now,” Stephen Harper’s ex-press secretary Carl Vallée recently insisted.
A “much bigger” climate crisis
At the National Institute for Scientific Research, associate professor Louise Hénault-Ethier, who specializes in adaptation to climate change, is not at all of this opinion.
“Of course war is scary, but the sooner we get out of our dependence on hydrocarbons, the better we will stand out from armed conflicts linked to pipelines. Above all, we must not blink an eye on the climate crisis because of the conflict in Ukraine,” she says.
“The climate crisis will be much more important for our economy, much more broadly than the few gains that we could make in the short term by thinking of exploiting certain hydrocarbons more. The recent IPCC report [Groupe d’experts intergouvernemental sur l’évolution du climat, organisme intergouvernemental ouvert aux pays membres de l’Organisation des Nations unies] demonstrates it: we are in an unprecedented crisis, ”she adds.
Mme Hénault-Ethier deplores the “increasingly firm rapprochements between hydrocarbons and war” throughout the world. “All the indicators are red and show that, on the contrary, we must break our dependence on hydrocarbons as quickly as possible to turn to renewable energies and a rationalization of our consumption. Our governments must maintain their strong lines, at all costs,” maintains the researcher.
Pierre-Olivier Pineau, holder of the energy chair at HEC Montréal, makes the same observation. “This conflict highlights the importance of making a rapid energy transition, of ending our consumption of oil and natural gas, because it is the revenues from these products that allow Russia to act as it does. The oil revenue has made it possible to enrich Putin and his armies,” he concludes.
With Julien Arsenault, The Press