The Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy Pierre Fitzgibbon is not closing the door to offering minerals, such as lithium, to attract new players in the battery sector.
According to what Radio-Canada reported last week, the government would be ready to sell shares it holds in the company Nemaska Lithium, to convince Honda to choose Quebec for the construction of a cathode factory.
Questioned on this subject Tuesday during a press briefing in Montreal, Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon refrained from commenting directly on this issue, but he mentioned the possibility of offering minerals to attract manufacturers of electric vehicles.
“In the world, what we are currently seeing is a search for minerals. Car companies, for example, are concerned about access to lithium, graphite, sodium, phosphate, nickel. So it’s certain that in Quebec, we have the privilege of having these resources” and “Quebec has many deposits of this type of mineral,” the minister first explained.
“How do we use our resources to create value here? So if it is [en offrant] partial detention for any player, why not? ” he added.
Nemaska Lithium is about to open a lithium mine, the Whabouchi mine, in the Cree territory of the Eeyou Istchee Baie-James region, in northern Quebec. Nemaska Lithium also has a production plant in Bécancour and the Quebec state holds 50% of the company’s shares.
An integrated sector
During a speech to the Canadian Club of Montreal on Tuesday, Pierre Fitzgibbon congratulated his government for having invested “massively in the battery sector” with the aim of creating “an integrated sector”.
He notably named the mining companies Nemaska Lithium and Sayona, manufacturers of battery components such as GM-POSCO, Ford-EcoPro BM, the cell manufacturer Northvolt and vehicle manufacturers such as Lion Électrique.
“This is the first time in the history of Quebec that we can take resources and keep them here, and create wealth,” indicated the Minister of the Economy.
He highlighted that the government has announced $16 billion in investments to date in the battery sector.
“But I am working with Investissement Québec on other projects,” said the minister.
Unions interrupt the event
The minister’s conference at the Canadian Club of Montreal was delayed by a union demonstration.
Before Pierre Fitzgibbon addressed the business people, several dozen demonstrators noisily entered the hall of the Palais des Congrès where the event was taking place.
Equipped with megaphones, whistles and musical instruments, the demonstrators, who brandished banners of the Union of Government Professionals of Quebec (SPGQ) and the Confederation of National Unions, remained on site for nearly 30 minutes.
The demonstrators went to the head table, where Pierre Fitzgibbon was sitting, and he left the room for around fifteen minutes.
There was no intervention from police or security personnel and the demonstrators ended up leaving the scene without being escorted.
The approximately 26,000 members of the SPGQ have still not reached an agreement with Quebec. These include, for example, computer analysts, inspectors, accountants, biologists.