(Quebec) After the ex-PQ member Bernard Drainville and the former federal conservative Pascale Déry, the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) is now recruiting… from the Quebec Liberal Party. A former Liberal MP is tipped as a candidate in Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue, has learned The Press. A candidacy that would not lack spice with the controversy surrounding the Horne Foundry.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Mining engineer Daniel Bernard, who was MP for the riding for eight years under Jean Charest, is in talks with the CAQ. The case is almost sealed and his candidacy is about to be confirmed. Mr. Bernard did not call back The Press Friday night.
He is a municipal councilor for Rouyn-Noranda and director of professional services at Technominex, a mining exploration company.
PHOTO FROM THE TECHNOMINEX WEBSITE
Former Liberal MP Daniel Bernard
Under the Liberal banner, Daniel Bernard was first elected Member of Parliament for Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue in 2003. He narrowly lost his election in 2007 to the Parti Québécois, but he took his revenge the following year to sit until 2012. He did not run that year.
Return to municipal politics
Daniel Bernard returned to politics last year, on the municipal scene. He was elected to the municipal council of Rouyn-Noranda.
On Monday, the city council unanimously adopted a resolution asking that “the activities of the Horne Foundry aim to achieve the environmental standards in force for all heavy metals and fine particles released into the air”.
With the authorization of the government, the Horne Foundry, owned by the multinational Glencore, currently releases into the air up to 100 nanograms of arsenic per cubic meter, or 33 times more than the Quebec standard, set at 3 ng / m3.
Public Health recommended Wednesday that the smelter achieve an annual average of 15 nanograms of arsenic per cubic meter of air within five years. For her, this is an “intermediate step” to undertake. “The recommendations go in the direction of what we are asking, that is to aim for the achievement of standards and to quickly have targets to be reached which make it possible to protect our population”, reacted the City.
Quebec will have to decide. “If it is a request from Public Health, you will understand, with the logic of not compromising people’s health, that this will be a reference value on our side”, commented on Wednesday the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Cart. He did not want to confirm that the recommendation will be followed by the government. He will travel to Rouyn-Noranda on Monday to announce “the main environmental requirements that the government of Quebec proposes to impose on the Horne Foundry”.
Loyal to the PLQ until recently
During the municipal elections last year, Daniel Bernard argued that protecting the environment is a big concern for him. “With the 100e Rouyn-Noranda’s upcoming anniversary (the Lake Osisko restoration project) is really a great project,” he said in an interview with local media, Le Citoyen. This lake has been heavily contaminated since the smelter opened in 1927. “We also have to ensure the quality of other bodies of water and the quality of the air,” he added.
Daniel Bernard had remained faithful to the PLQ until very recently. He donated $100 last year and $200 in 2018, an election year, for example. He did not contribute to Dominique Anglade’s fund during the – aborted – race for the leadership of the PLQ in 2020. He did, however, give $ 200 to his only opponent, Alexandre Cusson, candidate who withdrew in the middle of the campaign. .
Daniel Bernard would replace the first candidate that the CAQ had presented in Rouyn-Noranda-Témiscamingue.
Claude Thibault – a former candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada – withdrew her candidacy on July 29, two days after making the announcement. In a very brief press release, she invoked “personal reasons”. According to our information, labor relations problems of which she had not informed the party are behind the decision.
After the PQ and the PLQ exchanged the riding in 2012 and 2014, Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue has been held by Québec solidaire since 2018. Émilise Lessard-Therrien won 32% of the vote against 30% for the CAQ.
With the collaboration of Denis Lessard, The Press