Former Liberal Minister of the Environment, David Heurtel, knocks on the door of Minister of Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, to obtain a block of energy for a green hydrogen project in Val-d’Or and Saint Jerome.
“Communications for the granting of blocks of hydroelectric energy of 5 MW and more to supply Hydrolux’s green hydrogen production facilities to supply vehicles”, can we read in the Registry of Lobbyists.
In 2017, David Heurtel, then Minister of Sustainable Development, the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change under Philippe Couillard, became interested in hydrogen cars during a public event of the company of the Japanese multinational. Honda.
$10 billion sector
A few years later, we learn that David Heurtel is asking the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy (MEIE), Pierre Fitzgibbon, for electricity in a sector where investments are set to increase.
In his Quebec strategy on green hydrogen and biofuels 2030published last year, the CAQ government indicates that public and private projects in the sector could reach 10 billion dollars in the coming years.
Last March, The newspaper reported that a Belgian firm close to the Desmarais clan was soliciting Hydro-Québec, Prime Minister François Legault, the Minister of Energy and numerous cities to obtain energy for its “renewable energy production projects”.
No interview
In recent days, the law firm for which David Heurtel works, Fasken, quickly declined our interview request.
Hydrolux also preferred to refer to Log a press release published a year ago, which reports on a project for two green hydrogen refueling stations allowing heavy trucks to connect the greater Montreal region and Abitibi.
Last September, The newspaper revealed that union members resented former minister David Heurtel lobbying to bring in workers from Slovenia instead of Quebeckers to build Metro’s $420 million automated center in Terrebonne.