The Minister of Economy and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, has signaled that the financing spigot for projects like Northvolt must be tightened in the context of recovery of public finances.
Mr. Fitzgibbon also said that the government wants to help sectors other than the battery sector, which has received $16 billion in recent years.
During the study of his ministry’s appropriations on Tuesday, he also declared that he does not foresee in the medium term other battery cell manufacturing projects which could be set up in Quebec after that of Northvolt.
Mr. Fitzgibbon mentioned the importance of supporting other sectors such as aeronautics, as well as the manufacturing of green aluminum and steel.
“In terms of budgetary appropriations, with the plan to return to budgetary balance, there is a limit to budgetary appropriations,” said the minister.
Blue basket
Mr. Fitzgibbon also acknowledged that he personally made the decision to absorb the costs linked to the end of the operations of Le Panier bleu, a platform for purchasing Quebec products, which he estimates to be less than the planned amount. of 6 million dollars.
Liberal MP Frédéric Beauchemin was surprised that these costs were not shared with the other shareholders and that Quebec taxpayers find themselves assuming the entirety of these costs, which are added to a government investment of around fifteen million.
More details will follow.
To watch on video