(New Richmond, Gaspésie) In the midst of the election campaign, Québec solidaire lowered its tone in the face of the McInnis cement plant during its major Gaspé tour and offered to support the company rather than threaten it with closure.
Posted at 2:52 p.m.
“We will unveil our climate plan on Sunday, and there will be measures on the one hand to stimulate the sectors of the economy which are sectors of the future within the framework of the ecological transition. But there will also be measures to support the vulnerable sectors of our economy, ”said the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire on Thursday.
While touring the Gaspé Peninsula, it is difficult to avoid the subject of the McInnis cement plant, which has become the biggest industrial polluter in Quebec. And Mr. Nadeau-Dubois places the company, which has benefited from hundreds of millions of dollars in public support, in the second category. “The McInnis cement plant is one of the sectors that are vulnerable in a context of ecological transition. We will support these industries,” he said.
In 2021, Mercier MP Ruba Ghazal was much tougher on Ciment McInnis. “I mean, we saw it with the pandemic, [le gouvernement] does all sorts of things by fiat. What are the powers of the government to be able to stop this massacre, this pollution? “, she asked in a press briefing at the National Assembly.
“There have to be financial tax incentives so that it really costs so much that it’s not worth doing business and continuing to operate that plant, since there will be costs for the carbon exchange,” she added.
Accelerate efforts
On the one hand, Québec solidaire intends to ask these companies “to accelerate their efforts to reduce their GHG emissions”, while the party promises that Quebec will be able to achieve a reduction target of -55% compared to 1990 by 2030. But on the other hand, he wants to “support them technologically”.
The leader of Québec solidaire made it clear that it is not “a question of passing the bill on to the workers” and that there will be measures “to support these people so that the transition is socially and regionally fair”.
“There is no question that certain regions pay more,” said Mr. Nadeau-Dubois. Québec solidaire will also provide support for “requalification of workers”.
“If the ecological transition causes technological changes, the workers affected must be requalified to keep their jobs. If people ever lose their jobs, they need to be supported to find a job in a promising sector. In short, it’s a general vision of these issues, not necessarily a game plan for the cement plant,” said Simone Lirette, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois’ press secretary, in a written exchange.