(Granby) It is not a change of minister, but a change of attitude that Quebec needs on the energy file, says Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. After Pierre Fitzgibbon’s “power grabs”, Québec solidaire (QS) is calling for a pause and a debate on an energy shift that could cost electricity consumers dearly over the next 20 years.
“No matter who François Legault chooses, the attitude must change. Today, we must turn the page on arrogance because Quebec’s energy future can no longer be the small personal project of one person, no matter how super-minister they are,” said the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, on Thursday at the entrance to his party’s pre-sessional caucus.
Earlier this week, the resignation of the “super minister” of Energy and Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, caused a surprise. During the day today, Premier François Legault is expected to announce that Christine Fréchette will replace him, while Jean-François Roberge will inherit Immigration.
But for Québec solidaire’s elected officials, the change cannot stop there. “This is a real societal project. The debate we will have in the coming weeks in the National Assembly is what will determine how much Quebecers will pay on their electricity bill, not just in the coming years, but in the next 15 or 20 years,” he said.
Dollarama Energy
Québec solidaire believes that the CAQ is transforming Hydro-Québec into an “energy Dollarama” for multinationals, a formula put forward by the resigning CEO of Hydro-Québec, Sophie Brochu, and opposes this vision to a real energy transition in Quebec.
The party is calling for the pure and simple withdrawal of Bill 69, tabled by former Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon, and which is to be studied next week by the new Minister Fréchette.
Last year, Hydro-Québec announced colossal investments of more than $100 billion to increase electricity production by 9,000 megawatts by 2035. This is the equivalent of the production of the LG-2, Manic-5 and the entire Romaine complex. This energy is needed to attract new businesses and to electrify the Quebec economy, which still runs on gasoline, propane and natural gas.
A transition that will cost dearly
To meet this challenge, Pierr Fitzgibbon tabled the bill on Quebec’s energy future at the very end of the spring parliamentary session. It will allow Hydro-Québec to act quickly, sometimes without a call for tenders.
Mr. Fitzgibbon acknowledged that this transition would be expensive, and he did not know who would have to foot the bill. “Businesses? Retail? Residential? Government? Hydro-Québec? This is a debate we need to have,” said Mr. Fitzgibbon. Last week, he warned consumers that the bill would be steep: “in five or ten years, yes, there will be significant increases,” he acknowledged.
This is Mme Fréchette, who will have to answer this question. But for Québec solidaire, we must have the debate and submit a transition plan before adopting a law. “Ms. Fréchette, she has an impossible job if she does not open this debate. […] The vision [de M. Fitzgibbon] “It was not on paper, but Bill 2 allowed him to give the megawatts to foreign multinationals,” lamented MP Haroun Bouazzi, who is the spokesperson on this issue.
Mr. Bouazzi believes that we must immediately know who will pay for the energy transition, and believes that SMEs and industries already present in Quebec, which have decarbonization objectives, to replace the use of natural gas or propane with clean electricity for example, should know if they will be entitled to electricity to do so in the future.
“Does this bill tell us how quickly we will have more electricity and less gas or less oil? Which industries will survive, and what will we do with industries that disappear because we cannot decarbonize them? We need this plan so that we can think together as legislators about what needs to be changed in the legislation to make the plan a success,” he said.