A petition was launched Wednesday against compensation for companies that will be affected by the possible ban on oil and gas development in Quebec.
More than thirty organizations, including environmental groups and student associations, are sponsoring this petition.
They want to put pressure on the Legault government, which has already announced its intention to give up the exploitation of hydrocarbons in Quebec.
However, there would still be no less than 182 oil and gas exploration permits still in force in Quebec, covering more than 32,000 square kilometers of land.
The Quebec Energy Association, which represents oil and gas companies, has already indicated that very high compensation could be demanded.
The organizations, for their part, argue that the State has no obligation to compensate injured companies, based on a recent report from the Center québécois du droit de l’environnement (CQDE).
No “freebie” for the industry
“Giving public funds as a gift to oil and gas is a political choice and not a legal obligation”, argues the grouping.
During a telephone interview, one of the spokespersons for the grouping of organizations, Adrien Guibert, also affirmed that fossil fuels have already cost quite dearly to the taxpayers of Quebec.
In addition, he suggested that if Quebec became one of the first states to compensate oil and gas companies, that would set a dangerous precedent for other states where this industry is much heavier, such as Alberta.
Finally, organizations maintain that oil and gas companies were aware from the start of “the environmental and financial risks inherent in the development of their activities”.
Earlier in the fall, Prime Minister François Legault had said that his government was studying the possibility of buying back permits granted to companies.
The petition also calls for the rapid adoption of a bill prohibiting all exploration for hydrocarbons and any extraction, whether in land, water or marine environments.
Among the organizations that join the petition campaign are Greenpeace, Équiterre, but also the Quebec Association of Physicians for the Environment, as well as a large number of student associations, including Polytechnique, as well as the University of Sherbrooke and certain constituents of the University of Quebec.
A coalition against hydrocarbons
Remember that during the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, COP26, which was held in Glasgow recently, François Legault announced that Quebec was joining the Beyond Oil and Gas Coalition (BOGA) association. This grouping includes in particular Denmark and Costa Rica.
Quebec became the first state in North America to join this coalition and thus commit to renouncing the extraction of hydrocarbons.
The UN invited Mr. Legault to speak at one of the COP26 workshops, following his membership of BOGA.
A party against
At the end of October, QS took a stand against compensation for oil companies operating in Quebec.
QS particularly deplored that Quebec had already had to compensate up to $ 120 million to companies that held permits for projects on Anticosti Island, but also for the Galt and Bourque projects, in the Gaspé.
The party also recalled that Quebec was going to have to pay $ 54 million to secure and clean some thirty abandoned gas wells in the territory.