The priceless Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, launched a new attack against “militant” journalists who maintain an “unhealthy distrust” of the Northvolt project.
“I can assure you that there was no major conspiracy to benefit Northvolt,” he declared Tuesday before the Quebec Chamber of Commerce, inviting “those who want to invent stories” to write novels. and “rigorous, curious and impartial young people” – he could have added “docile” – to become journalists.
Mr. Fitzgibbon will now have to add to his list of public enemies the officials of the Ministry of the Environment, who are sharply denouncing — to put it mildly — the “political order” that their ministry agreed to carry out by giving the green light to the Swedish company.
This unrepentant “activist” that is colleague Thomas Gerbet, from Radio-Canada, obtained a copy of unequivocal letters from the coordinator of the ministry’s analysis and expertise team for the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. , Ghislain Côté, addressed his superiors and Minister Benoit Charrette.
According to him, “the ministry agreed to play the game of politics and to put aside its mission for the moment of a file”. He does not accept that the ministry’s experts take the blame for this privilege. “If it’s a decision that falls to the minister, take responsibility for it. The Environmental Quality Act gives you the right to do so, but do not place a burden on the teams who normally work in complete independence. »
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Thomas Gerbet also obtained the recording of an internal meeting of the ministry which clearly reflects the deep unease that this whole operation has created. While the Assistant Deputy Minister for Government Authorizations and Operations, Daniel Labrecque, recognizes that some civil servants are asking “legitimate questions,” Deputy Minister Marie-Josée Lizotte speaks of a “deplorable” and “unfair” media storm. .
The storm is not about to calm down. The president of the Association of Biologists of Quebec, Marie-Christine Bellemare, formulated in the most diplomatic way possible the question that everyone is asking: “We wonder if everything is done according to the rules of the art. Was there pressure? Did the people who intervened have room to maneuver? »
The anomalies seem so numerous that this whole operation seems like a huge sham where all the rules have been flouted. Ghislain Côté is right: rather than telling stories that no one can believe, the government would have done better to own up to its decision and explain that the arrival of Northvolt seemed so essential to it that it justified an exemption.
The survey that the Léger firm carried out on behalf of Northvolt indicates that 72% of residents in the area where the plant will be located believe that it is a “good project”, despite the questions it raises. Across Quebec, a Pallas Data poll commissioned by a collective of environmental groups puts support at 53%, but the same proportion condemns the government’s attitude.
The experience of the third link, which triggered the collapse of the CAQ, was clearly not enough to make the government understand that the hypocrisy surrounding a project can be more damaging than the project itself.
Everyone has known for a long time that Benoit Charette is only Minister of the Environment in title, his complacency perhaps explaining his appointment, but there was no need to make a new demonstration of this. The episode at the Horne foundry was sufficiently enlightening.
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Mr. Fitzgibbon is not the only one in government to see an “activist” in anyone who opposes him or who simply questions the merits of a decision. The Prime Minister and his colleagues have the same reflex.
Journalists care little about politicians’ attacks, seeing it instead as proof that they are doing their job well, but a state employee has every reason to worry about the reaction of a government whose decision he denounces. .
In January 2019, agronomist Louis Robert was abruptly fired by the Ministry of Agriculture for having transmitted to the media documents which demonstrated the interference of the private sector in public research on pesticides, despite the protection that the law guarantees. , in principle, to whistleblowers.
He was reinstated a few months later, with Mr. Legault’s apologies, after the Public Protector severely denounced his dismissal, but seeing his integrity called into question by the Minister of Agriculture certainly had nothing to do with it. ‘pleasant.
We could understand the coordinator of the Ministry of the Environment, who denounced the “political order” in favor of Northvolt, to have a restless sleep over the coming days, but the government has no interest in it misfortune befalls him.