Quebec is hopeful of convincing the new federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, to support the third link, because this Quebec-Lévis tunnel project is “a winner for the environment”, according to the Minister responsible for Canadian Relations, Sonia LeBel.
During a press scrum to comment on the new Trudeau cabinet on Tuesday, Mr.me Lebel reiterated that Quebec is counting on financial support from the Trudeau government for this project, the cost of which is estimated at up to $ 10 billion.
Asked how she was going to go about convincing the former environmental activist Steven Guilbeault that this is a good project, she replied that this tunnel “also serves public transport” and that the Quebec government “Has a great desire to move towards the electrification of transport”. “For me, it’s a win-win for the environment. I think it is these kinds of conversations that Mr. Guilbeault will be able to have with us, ”she added.
The Legault government is satisfied that Quebec’s weight is maintained within the Trudeau cabinet with the appointment of ten Quebec ministers. Sonia LeBel took the opportunity to recall that her government is opposed to the next scenario of redistributing the federal electoral map, which would increase the number of seats in Quebec from 78 to 77, in 2024.
The outings of François Legault against the Liberal Party of Canada and favorable to the Conservatives, in the midst of the election campaign, will not harm Quebec-Ottawa relations, according to Mr.me LeBel. “I expect the collaboration to continue,” she said. She also welcomed the return of Pablo Rodriguez as lieutenant for Quebec.
As for Jean-Yves Duclos, new Minister of Health, “he is a representative of Quebec in the federal government, around the ministerial table, so I expect him to be there for us with the same objectives. to defend the interests of Quebec, ”she insisted. The Legault government is calling for a significant increase in federal health transfers, without conditions. He wants the Liberals to stop encroaching on this area of Quebec jurisdiction.
Opposition reactions
When François Legault told us all Quebecers to go vote for the Conservative Party and that it was dangerous to vote for other parties, he decided to put his partisan interests before the interests of Quebec, his interests. supporters being the Caquist tunnel. He definitely weakened Quebec’s position with the Trudeau government. (In the Liberal Party of Quebec), we want to be able to maintain a climate of collaboration to defend Quebec’s interests, build bridges with ministers and fight climate change.
The leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec, Dominique Anglade
It is not every day that a former environmental activist becomes Minister of the Environment of a G7 country. But precisely, he must prove that he is not only the little green soldier of Justin Trudeau in Quebec, but that he still has environmental convictions. If Steven Guilbeault wishes to demonstrate that he is capable of defending Quebec and then that he is capable of defending the planet, he must, as a first step as Minister of the Environment, announce that subsidies to oil and gas companies will stop in the next federal budget.
The co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois
There are a few small exceptions to which the government clings to, but in reality it is a failure, the demands of Quebec (to the federal government). Will a change of ministers change anything in that? I don’t think so.
The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon