The government of François Legault leaves more than worrying room for maneuver to Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon. This is multiplying the announcements of projects with no other vision than that of “doing business”, while no one strictly voted for this by electing the Coalition Avenir Québec, we observe. In addition, the minister is taking great financial risks for Quebec, in particular with an unprecedented subsidy of several billion dollars intended for the Northvolt plant which sends promoters an open bar signal from a Quebec at bay, ready to pay to sell themselves, to cede their resources, their environment and their territory to the highest bidders. Furthermore, we can only note the tacit and complicit agreement of several ministers, including Benoit Charette, responsible for the Environmental Quality Act (LQE) and that on sustainable development.
With regard to the search for better integration of projects into the environment and society, it is customary to carry out an environmental and social impact study (ESIA). This is generally the subject of a report made public, followed most of the time by a public consultation. However, the developer Northvolt was exempted from carrying out an ESIA. As if by magic, the rule of subjugation was modified a few months before the announcement of the project. A happy coincidence for a developer coming from an exemplary country in environmental matters! In any case, neither Minister Fitzgibbon nor the president of Northvolt have clearly understood the meaning to be given to the ESIA approach, which, however, can be conceived as a possibility and not as a regulatory constraint.
There were several missed opportunities here to get things right, and instead moved quickly and forcefully. Minister Benoit Charette has the power to require the production of an ESIA for a project of this magnitude (it is one of the largest investments ever made in Quebec), but he has not done so. . He could also have seen the projects linked to this wonderful energy transition coming and ordered a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) – accompanied by a public consultation organized by the Office of Public Audiences on the Environment (BAPE) – of the battery sector and lithium mines, because let us have no doubt, other projects will be announced. But there too, there was silence.
The modification of the EQA which requires the carrying out of an SEA for policies, plans and programs has been promulgated since 2017, but not its implementing regulations, which are nevertheless ready, but which have mysteriously been postponed several times , the time that projects are spent in bursts, without public policies giving a coherent vision, without clear directions governing these industrial sectors. Let us emphasize here that this has not prevented the ministry from carrying out a few ESAs since that date, because the minister does indeed have the authority to order them. There has also been no update of Quebec’s energy policy, now completely obsolete, nor, of course, an associated SEA, nor any public consultation to this effect led by the BAPE.
The promoter himself, suffering from willful blindness and/or lulled by the assurance of seeing his file arranged quickly, was “surprised” to learn that the authorizations to clear wetlands that he obtained could give rise to the discontent of environmental groups. However, it seems to us that a developer and his advisors, concerned about the good insertion of the project into the environment and society, could not ignore the rule of “no net loss” of wetlands which is in effect. in force in Quebec, Canada and internationally (this is a requirement of the World Bank). In addition, they should have been informed that all regions of Quebec, on orders from the government, have adopted natural environment conservation plans.
It’s not all about communication and controlling the message. However, such a strategy was used alternately by the minister, the prime minister and the developer, as evidenced by various “media outings” of the “damage control” type. Thus, Minister Fitzgibbon affirms that he did not know that the regulation of subjugation had been modified. The Prime Minister argues that “it is the role of the government to help developers”, and, obviously, some more than others. Northvolt’s communications manager ensures TV news that “the social acceptability of the project is rather good”. Finally, the president of the company intervenes in person with the naivety of a promoter who thought he was doing the right thing. All this is no longer happening!
However, it is not too late to carry out an ESIA of the project, including a public consultation, led by an independent organization or a firm specializing in this area. The expertise exists in Quebec!
Finally, if the government wants to avoid sending to the slaughterhouse all project promoters who will have to face the general discontent of the Quebec population who believe in its institutions, it should not miss the opportunity to update its policy energy, to adopt a public policy on the energy transition industries and to submit them to proper SEAs, accompanied by public consultations carried out under the aegis of the BAPE.
These structuring tasks are part of the government’s responsibilities, towards both developers and communities. Could it be that, in the near future, promoters or citizens will sue Quebec for not having fulfilled its missions? Such controversies could be avoided. Quebec is open to projects that fit with the major challenges of our modern societies and that respect the environment and society. Ignoring it with the intoxication and unconsciousness of the exercise of power, which is certainly held by a majority, but which ignores the essential relay of participatory democracy and sound environmental governance, leads to a marked drop in the popularity rating of François Legault’s government and, even worse, risks dragging Quebec into fiascos that everyone could do without.