(Laval) The Legault government will hold a public consultation on Quebec’s energy future, as it aims to “grow Hydro-Quebec by 50%” and win the race for carbon neutrality in North America. However, he would not go so far as to set up an itinerant national commission as requested by the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ).
The consultation will be led by the Minister of Economy and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon. It will precede the tabling of his “very tough” bill affecting Hydro-Québec and the Régie de l’énergie. This legislative text is expected this spring, but it is possible that it will be presented only in the fall.
Pierre Fitzgibbon mentioned holding a consultation at the very end of the press scrum on Thursday, on the sidelines of the CAQ caucus meeting to prepare for the return to parliament on January 31. He answered in the affirmative when asked if a consultation on the energy future is planned. “There will be public hearings, a parliamentary commission. We will do this in order, ”he added.
The modalities of the consultation have not yet been defined, the government was later told. It would not be held in parliament and would not take the form of a traveling parliamentary committee.
During his meeting with Premier François Legault, the interim leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec, Marc Tanguay, called for the holding of a “national traveling commission on energy” which “would deal with our current and future needs in energy and on the public investments that will be necessary in the coming decades to achieve the energy transition and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050”. The commission would be co-chaired by a member from the government and one from the official opposition, according to the Liberal proposal. This form of consultation is not retained by the government.
In his opening speech to the parliamentary session last fall, Prime Minister François Legault said he wanted “a real societal debate” on Quebec’s energy future, which, according to him, involves, among other things, the construction of new dams. to meet increased demand.
The debate surrounding the need for consultation had gained momentum with the exit of the CEO of Hydro-Québec, Sophie Brochu, who said she feared that Quebec would become the “Dollarama” of electricity by selling at a discount its energy to companies for energy-intensive economic projects. Minister Fitzgibbon’s intentions worried him. She announced her resignation earlier this month.
For his part, the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, called for “the holding of an emergency parliamentary committee on Hydro-Québec’s 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, in order to hear Sophie Brochu before her departure” from his position as CEO on April 11.
The Legault government intends to ask Hydro-Québec to testify before the deputies to defend its strategic plan, but it is not certain that the exercise will take place before the departure of Mr.me Leaflet.
Upon his arrival at the caucus meeting, François Legault placed energy at the heart of his priorities along with education and health. He promoted his “exciting project to electrify Quebec” in a speech to his deputies.
“We are already the first in North America for the most (low greenhouse gas emissions) per capita. We want to be the first to bring this down to zero. That means, among other things, increasing Hydro-Québec by 50%” in terms of electricity production. “It’s exciting to say Quebec could, will be the first state in North America to be carbon neutral,” he added.
For Pierre Fitzgibbon, the government must consider the construction of new dams in order to fill the gap between electricity supply and demand “for decabomination and for economic projects that are worthwhile for Quebec”. The development of wind energy and efficiency measures, two options on which the government is also banking in the shorter term, may not be enough.
Wind turbines, “we don’t have enough of them in Quebec,” said the minister. He still intends to develop this sector in partnership with the private sector. “Wind turbines can be subcontracted to people, but it’s Hydro-Quebec that has to decide where the wind turbines are to be installed. And involving the municipalities will help a lot (to make it) socially acceptable,” he said.