The Quebec regulatory framework represents a major “constraint” for investors in the “race against time” in the battery sector, believes the president of Investissement Québec (IQ) International, Hubert Bolduc.
He thus echoes the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, who, in reference to the Northvolt mega-factory project planned in Montérégie, had affirmed that “carrying out large projects is more long, more complex and more expensive in Quebec than almost anywhere else in the world.
“The minister is completely fair, he is right in his comments. It’s a frame [réglementaire] which is strict, which is rigorous,” agreed Mr. Bolduc in an interview with The duty, earlier this week. On Monday, Mr Fitzgibbon signed a letter in The Press where he recalled that Northvolt had to face “very tedious” environmental rules.
As head of IQ International, Hubert Bolduc’s task is to attract foreign investors from all backgrounds to Quebec. And in the “hunt” for promoters, as he calls it, it is undoubtedly in the battery sector that the competition is the most “fierce”, he observes.
“Our biggest adversary is the United States. I have just brought out the latest figures: since the arrival of the IRA [Inflation Reduction Act]in 2022, 77 projects related to the battery sector will be carried out in the United States, for 50,000 jobs, then 80 billion in investment, he raised. You have to be quick. » Mr. Bolduc cites as an example the installation of General Motors and Ford cathode factories in Bécancour in recent years.
Contested project
Quebec could pay $2.9 billion to Northvolt so that the Swedish company installs its anode and cathode manufacturing plant in Montérégie, on land located straddling McMasterville and Saint-Basile-le-Grand. Even though wooded areas and wetlands, as well as at least eight threatened species, have been identified in the area, the company began construction of its complex without being subject to a study by the Office of Public Hearings on the environment.
This rare exemption for a project of this scale generated strong mobilization from environmental organizations and certain citizen groups. The Quebec Environmental Law Center had also requested an injunction from the Superior Court to temporarily put an end to the work, without success.
In his open letter, Minister Fitzgibbon stated that “the legal and media dimensions […] are […] difficult to understand and navigate, especially for foreigners.” “Certain activists and certain equally militant journalists are much louder than the silent majority who support these projects,” wrote the elected official.
Asked about these outings, Hubert Bolduc did not want to comment. “Each country, each destination, each nation has rules that we must follow in order to operate, to do business. Our job is to know them, it is to explain them,” he was content to say.
The fact remains that Minister Fitzgibbon “is right when he mentions these fears or these constraints that he mentioned,” reiterated the president of IQ International. “Our role is to explain them, then demystify them on behalf of our clients. »
Mr. Bolduc mentions cases where foreign investors asked questions about the French language, for example. “We told them: “Okay, look, we’ll put you in touch with the people at the OQLF [Office québécois de la langue française] or with the Ministry of the French Language. Ask your questions and you will decide whether or not you want to come,” he says.
” Not afraid “
From an environmental point of view, Quebec’s “strict, severe framework” “does not scare” the big names in the battery sector, according to the main spokesperson for IQ International. Especially since there are several selling points for Quebec, he said: “minerals, megawatts, square meters, qualified labor and market access”.
On the sidelines of the presentation of the financial results of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the president and CEO of the Bas de laine des Québécois, Charles Emond, recalled the importance for Quebec to retain major projects in this “promising” sector. “What can be done in terms of evaluation processes is left to the competent authorities, but it is a sector which offers a growth rate of almost 30% per year,” he said on Thursday.
Despite the controversy surrounding the Northvolt project, Hubert Bolduc assures that the interest of the battery sector in Quebec has not diminished. “I won’t say who, but we still work with other major clients,” he says. We must be pleased that Quebec, in such a short time, was able to do well.”