The Legault government on Wednesday appointed a temporary president and general manager at the head of Hydro-Québec, while Sophie Brochu is due to leave office on April 11.
This is the current executive vice-president of strategy and development of the Crown corporation, Pierre Despars. At Hydro-Québec since 2020, Mr. Despars is a former Énergir employee, like Mr.me Brochu, where he worked from 1991 to 2018. He will take up his new position on April 11.
Pierre Despars notably contributed to the development of the 2022-2026 strategic plan. He was also involved in closing the New York City Electricity Supply Agreement and the acquisition of Great River Hydro in New England.
In the last few days, the Minister of Economy and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, had mentioned that candidates were being considered by the board of directors of Hydro-Québec, which would make a recommendation to the government, but that he did not There was no specific timeline as to when the process should be completed.
In the meantime, Mr. Despars “has the necessary experience” to act as interim until the appointment of the next big boss of Hydro-Québec, comments the minister on Twitter.
The chair of the board of directors of Hydro-Québec, Jacynthe Côté, confirmed in a press release that the selection process to find the person who will lead the state-owned company is ongoing.
Recall that M.me Côté is also leaving the company at the end of her mandate, which ends in May. In February, the executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Hydro-Québec, Éric Filion, accepted a position with Bombardier.
The head of energy files for Québec solidaire, Haroun Bouazzi, pleads for the interim to be short-lived. “Hydro-Québec has been going through a crisis since the arrival of Minister Fitzgibbon. While we have known about the departure of Sophie Brochu for months, the government is still unable to announce the name of the person who will replace her. »
Architect then builder
Sophie Brochu announced at the beginning of January that she was leaving her post on April 11, before the end of her term. Prior to this announcement, rumors swirled that Mme Brochu is said to have strained relations with Minister Fitzgibbon, which the two main interested parties have denied.
“That’s not it, assured M.me Brochu, at a press conference in February. It’s a personal movement, it’s an organizational movement. For the rest of things, it is healthy that there is someone who is more appropriate than me to manage the rest of what is to be built. »
Mme Brochu believes that Hydro-Québec needs someone with a different profile to succeed him. To illustrate her point, she compared Hydro-Québec’s strategic plan to building a house.
Like an architect, she explained that her strength is to draw the outlines of the strategic plan in collaboration with civil society actors. The next step would require someone whose strength would be operational execution, she said. “Don’t get me wrong, building the house is more difficult than drawing it. »