The Minister of Economy and Energy Pierre Fitzgibbon has widely solicited the opinions of his entourage to find a candidate to succeed the president and CEO of Hydro-Québec, Sophie Brochu.
Mr. Fitzgibbon clarified on Wednesday that he had “not necessarily” made a suggestion to the board of directors of the crown corporation, which is legally responsible for making a recommendation on this subject to the government.
The minister, however, took an active part on his side, like Prime Minister François Legault, in the search for candidates.
“We spoke to different people, me, the Prime Minister, he said. The Council of Ministers is a lot of ministers, everyone has ideas in there. »
Mr Fitzgibbon said the government wants to appoint someone “who knows about energy development”.
“There are a lot of interested people, who know about it, and who find the challenge interesting,” he said.
Without specifying whether he will favor a candidate from Quebec, Mr. Fitzgibbon nevertheless insisted on the importance of it having “a Quebec sensibility”.
Board role
The Hydro-Québec Act establishes that the government appoints, “on the recommendation of the board of directors”, the president and chief executive officer of the state-owned company.
Mr. Fitzgibbon maintained Wednesday that the administrators of Hydro-Quebec do not have to submit to the government a list containing more than one finalist.
“No, it’s not in the law, it’s not a practice,” he said.
Sophie Brochu announced last month that she will step down on April 11. In the press release announcing his departure, the state-owned company said it was already in a position to perform its duties.
“In terms of succession planning, the Board of Directors of Hydro-Quebec has played its role and is thus able to recommend candidates to the Government of Quebec,” the statement said.
On Wednesday, Fitzgibbon said the board’s role is to ensure it has “the resources that are going to be able to execute the government’s strategic vision.”
“The government is the shareholder,” recalled the minister. So the government will ultimately decide. »
On the Hydro-Quebec side, the communications department declined to comment on the current process.
“Since the process is the responsibility of the Government of Quebec, I am directing you to them,” replied spokesperson Maxime Huard-Lefebvre.
Last fall, Ms. Brochu warned the government against the temptation to want to transform the state corporation into a “dollar store” for electricity by offering advantageous rates to businesses.
Explaining the reasons for her departure in January, Ms. Brochu insisted on this point: the Government of Quebec must use its subsidy programs and not Hydro-Quebec to help businesses and promote economic development.
During the last election campaign, Mr. Legault said he wanted to relaunch the construction of hydroelectric dams to meet increased demand.