(Mont-Saint-Grégoire, Quebec) François Legault denies wanting to relaunch the LNG Quebec project if he is re-elected in October, contrary to what his Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, would have said. Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois replies, however, that we “cannot” trust the Prime Minister when it comes to the environment.
Posted at 11:05 a.m.
Updated at 11:24 a.m.
According to Radio-Canada, Mr. Fitzgibbon informed the federal government that his party could review its position against GNL Quebec if it is returned to power on October 3. However, the CAQ had closed the door to LNG in the summer of 2021, saying that it had no social acceptability and that the project would not help with the energy transition or the reduction of greenhouse gases. . The Bureau d’audiences publiques en environnement (BAPE) had also criticized the project a few months earlier.
On the airwaves of 98.5FM this summer, the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, had for his part affirmed that several elements had changed since the rejection of GNL Québec by the government. First, the war in Ukraine has forced European countries – notably Germany, Europe’s largest economy – to review its supply of Russian gas. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was in Canada this summer, where he discussed energy issues with Ottawa and Quebec.
“If we have an ally who says ‘we need liquefied natural gas’, then it’s a much more serious project. It’s one thing to build, then you have to sell it,” Mr. Girard told Cogeco radio a few weeks ago.
“If there are firm commitments to purchase liquefied natural gas, it is proven that it will replace more polluting energies such as coal and oil [ailleurs] […] [et] that the promoters prove that they are able to assume their environmental responsibilities, it is a situation that has completely changed, because there is now a credible buyer with the possibility of making long-term contracts”, he had added.
The door closed permanently?
In a press briefing on Wednesday in Montérégie, the head of the CAQ, François Legault, was bombarded with questions about his party’s position regarding GNL Québec. Does he definitively close the door to the project, if he is re-elected for a second term?
“With ifs, we can go far… What we know is that there is no social acceptability in Quebec, that the BAPE refused the project, so with the information that I have today, the project is refused and there is no intention to change that”, he first replied.
But sometimes, in politics, the conclusions drawn one day can change the next day, when new information comes to light. Asked about this fact, Mr. Legault therefore clarified his position a little more: “We are closing the door. It is very clear that we are closing the door. […] The gas is off. »
Trust
But the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire does not buy this version. “In the environment, we cannot trust François Legault. […] The environmental convictions of François Legault are as solid as a sheet of paper flying in the wind, ”he denounced on the sidelines of a press briefing on sustainable mobility in Quebec.
In his opinion, it is not credible that a player as important as Pierre Fitzgibbon could have made these approaches without François Legault being aware. “Pierre Fitzgibbon is not a fourth line player. He is François Legault’s favorite minister. He would never have had conversations with the federal government without the support of François Legault. I don’t believe it,” he said.
People know François Legault. He’s not the kind of man to let his ministers do anything.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire
As for the arguments cited by Minister Girard, he denounces them. “I think Éric Duhaime is convincing François Legault and his ministers. These arguments do not hold water. […] We must free ourselves from our dependence on oil and hydrocarbons in general. We must focus on electrification and the ecological transition,” said Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.
PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon also attacked François Legault. “Here is another example of the CAQ’s lack of transparency, it’s true for air quality, it’s true for all kinds of public environmental policies, but it’s true for the GNL Québec project, where do we wonder what the real intention of the CAQ is, what is happening behind the scenes. And there’s a reason why only 31% of Quebecers are satisfied with the CAQ when it comes to the environment [selon le dernier sondage Léger] “, he launched.
With the collaboration of Fanny Lévesque