François Legault assures that there is no question of relaunching GNL Québec after the October 3 elections. The project lacks the necessary social acceptability, he said Wednesday morning, in response to reports that his government has made informal representations to the federal government in an effort to revive the idea of a factory. of Alberta gas liquefaction in the Saguenay.
According to what the leader of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) argued, his party’s position on GNL Québec “has not changed”. “There is no intention to change that, [le refus du gouvernement québécois] “, he assured the press on the sidelines of an election announcement in Mont-Saint-Grégoire, in Montérégie.
“There is no social acceptability. We are talking about having a pipe that passes through Quebec, so it does not just affect Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. And the BAPE rejected it. So nothing has changed on that side, ”said Mr. Legault.
“The gas is closed,” he added. “On the other hand, we are open to exports of green hydrogen if the price is good and also according to the capacities we have in electricity”, also said the Prime Minister. This is what he said to the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, less than 10 days ago, noted Mr. Legault at a press conference. “We are open to exporting green hydrogen to Germany, not gas. »
According to information published Wednesday morning by Radio-Canada, the office of the Quebec Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, has conducted informal approaches over the past two to three months in the LNG Quebec file. Three different federal government sources are said to have confirmed these steps.
According to one of the Radio-Canada sources, Fitzgibbon’s cabinet would have let it be known that after the provincial elections, there would be a desire on the part of Quebec “to reconsider” and “to speed up”. This possible revival of the gas project would fit into the context of the energy upheavals caused in Europe by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Rather green energy
Called to react, the Parti Québécois reiterated its opposition to GNL Québec. “The smartest way to help the planet in general is to jettison polluting energies. […] And it’s also the smartest thing to do economically,” said its leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. The PQ rather consider that it is necessary “to invest massively in green energies” produced by Quebec companies, in order to export these energies.
On the side of Quebec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said he doubted the rejection of GNL Quebec reaffirmed Wednesday morning by the caquists. “In the environment, we cannot trust François Legault,” he argued.
As for the Conservative Party of Quebec, it is this Wednesday promoting the factory and marine terminal project as part of a visit to Saguenay. Éric Duhaime’s training would even like to supply the plant with shale gas from Quebec.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his part recalled Wednesday that such an industrial project should comply with a federal and provincial environmental process, while stressing that Ottawa “accepts the decision” of rejection formulated by Quebec for the first version of LNG Quebec.
GNL Quebec had not yet reacted Wednesday morning.
Recovery possible
In July 2021, the Legault government formally rejected the LNG Quebec project, citing mainly climate arguments. The Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charrette, said at the time that the promoters had failed to demonstrate that their natural gas liquefaction and export project would reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by replacing sources more polluting energy. “On the contrary,” he pointed out, GNL Quebec risked “disadvantaging the energy transition” in the countries that would buy this liquefied natural gas.
“It’s an official ‘no’,” insisted Mr. Charette. There will be no liquefaction plant on the Saguenay. If the proponents wanted to submit a new project, they would have to “start the entire environmental assessment process all over again.” “We are talking about delays of a few years,” he said.
Last February, it was the federal government’s turn to close the door on Alberta’s natural gas export project. The Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, then specified that “the significant negative environmental effects that the project is likely to cause are not justifiable in the circumstances”.
The Trudeau government had however indicated, in its refusal, that this did not prevent GNL Quebec from returning to the charge. “This decision does not prevent GNL Québec from submitting new project proposals and does not exclude any potential development. The Government of Canada will continue to support the natural resource sector across the country in order to stimulate growth and create jobs, and this, in a sustainable way, ”specified in particular the press release.
The revival of GNL Quebec would not be easy, according to lawyer Marc Bishai, of the Quebec Center for Environmental Law. Proponents would once again have to go through the full Quebec environmental assessment process, including a review by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE). And he would face stiff opposition in public consultations, he predicts.
GNL Quebec lobbying
Since the refusal of the LNG Quebec project, the company has however maintained active lobbying mandates in Quebec and Ottawa. The two lobbyists registered in the Quebec registry are continuing their efforts to obtain the “required permits” to relaunch the project. Their terms of reference also mention efforts to “obtain hydroelectric power and potential financial support” from the government.
Since the rejection of GNL Québec by the Legault government, the president of the company, Tony Le Verger, has also registered 12 “communications” in the federal register of lobbyists, including eight since the rejection by the federal government. In particular, he has registered three communication reports since the beginning of May. Among them are three political advisers to the Canadian Minister of Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson. Another member of the GNL Quebec board of directors, Jim Illich, has registered eight communications since the beginning of the year.
For new liquefied natural gas projects to have any hope of moving forward, the Trudeau government asserts, however, that greenhouse gas emissions related to gas exploitation will have to be consistent with Canada’s “reduction objectives”. Exports should also enable the replacement of more polluting sources, such as coal, and be part of an “energy transition” towards the export of hydrogen.