If Quebec wants to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the government must impose new measures taking this objective into account for the awarding of public contracts, plead representatives of the clean technology sector. They hope that their appeal will be heard by the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, who will soon unveil the government’s strategy for public contracts.
The strategy for public procurement should be filed “in the coming weeks”, confirms M’s press officerme LeBel in an email to To have to. For André Rochette, president and founder of Ecosystem, a Montreal company specializing in building energy systems, this is an opportunity to be seized.
Instead of tenders being awarded on the main criterion of lowest cost, the Quebec government should generalize calls for solutions and results-based performance contracts for public infrastructure contracts, suggests Mr. Rochette. for exemple.
The entrepreneur cites the case of the Olympic Park. “Thanks to a call for solutions, the Olympic Park has chosen to implement a project at its stadium which has enabled it to considerably reduce its operating costs. This approach enabled it to reduce its energy bill by 38% and its GHG emissions by 82%, ”he explains. “There are many projects that could benefit from this approach rather than the traditional one, such as ventilation improvement projects in schools,” he explains.
David Arsenault, president and co-founder of Effenco, a Montreal company specializing in the electrification of heavy vocational vehicles, also explained, in an interview with the To have to in October, that currently, without regulations aimed at favoring bidders with a better environmental record in calls for tenders, companies working in the clean technology sector are at a disadvantage.
“It’s more difficult to break through when there is no requirement [environnementale] in quotes. A private operator in Quebec has no real incentive to choose green technologies, except his conviction, ”he argued.
Know-how “showcases”
Denis Leclerc, President and CEO of Écotech Québec, which represents the clean technology cluster in the province, agrees. And according to him, the government should take inspiration from what is done in the field of art to apply it to the field of clean technologies.
“Sixty years after the adoption of the Policy of 1% integration of public art in public buildings, why could what has worked so well for our cultural artists not inspire a similar policy for innovations that fight against climate change or preserve our natural resources? »Estimates Mr. Leclerc.
According to him, a policy of integrating Quebec clean technologies would both enhance Quebec know-how and improve the government’s environmental record. “It is absolutely necessary that the strategy [pour les marchés publics] contributes to the achievement of environmental and climatic targets and above all shows the exemplary nature of the State in this regard, ”he says.
As to what its ambitions were, the Secretariat of the Conseil du trésor of Quebec specified by email that it was not in a position to reveal the content of the government strategy before the bill was tabled.