Quebec will boom under its ambitious green-energy development, Legault says

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ST-HYACINTHE — Describing Quebec’s green energy as the “gold of tomorrow,” Premier François Legault on Saturday predicted two economic booms lay ahead that will result in the creation of thousands of jobs and more prosperity.

Elevating his government’s current plan to double Hydro-Québec’s production capacity to the level of the grand power projects of his predecessors, including Robert Bourassa and René Lévesque, Legault took on his naysayers head on in a speech closing a Coalition Avenir Québec policy workshop.

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“When we develop we take risks, but we take calculated risks,” Legault told the crowd of several hundred. “And I would say to people who have never been in business, if we don’t take risks in life we’re going nowhere.

“I call this building, in this case building the economy of tomorrow for the next generations. And clean energy for me is going to become the gold of tomorrow. I see nothing less than an industrial renaissance in all the regions of Quebec.”

But he said some people, including those in the opposition parties, find the government’s goals too expensive, too ambitious and too risky.

“There are some who still think we are resigned to live in poverty,” Legault said. “There are some who think we are unable to do great things. But, happily, there is another category and they are called builders. We in the CAQ are builders.”

The keynote speech comes at the end of a rough few weeks for Legault’s government, which has faced staunch criticism in the wake of the news of the financial troubles of the Swedish-owned Northvolt project to be built in Montérégie.

The company announced international layoffs of 1,600 people, but says its Quebec plans remain unchanged. The government to date has invested $700 million in the project, gambling getting in on the supply chain to make electric cars will pay off.

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Legault did not once mention the name of Northvolt in his speech, instead focusing on his overall vision. It’s true doubling Hydro’s generating capacity will cost a fortune — the estimate is between $150 billion and $185 billion — but it will pay off in two “economic booms,” he said.

The first is in the building process itself. That will create thousands of jobs for engineers, line persons, technicians and electricians, some of whom will be earning $100,000 a year.

The second boom will be in the regions when companies anxious to buy green power open new industries to transform such valuable natural resources as lithium into goods, Legault added.

The process has to be done in partnership with Indigenous communities, he said, asking delegates to have a thought Saturday for Joyce Echaquan, who died in a Joliette hospital Sept. 28 three years ago.

Legault’s speech, however, was as much about reassuring his nervous party that is entering next week the last two years of its current mandate. That means the next general election is in 2026.

Down in the polls compared to its early years in office, the CAQ’s problems are starting to pile up. The government is saddled with an $11-billion deficit, while most Quebecers have yet to see the results of its health reform.

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The first three weeks of the sitting of the National Assembly have been marked by headlines about Northvolt and a nasty war with Ottawa over temporary immigration.

Cracks are appearing in the normally docile ranks of the CAQ’s rank-and-file. During two workshops held Saturday morning, several worried delegates went to the microphone questioning the government’s work.

“I can tell you that at the rural level, the CAQ is collapsing,” Portneuf riding delegate Sylvain Duval told the crowd. “It’s no joke.”

Duval complained the government is too focused on grandiose economic projects and has neglected smaller entrepreneurs who need a hand.

“There are many companies who need access to money,” he said. “But you are putting all your eggs in big things.”

During a panel on immigration and employment, and with the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, sitting on stage, Lotbinière delegate Bruno Boulet ran down a list of government actions he said are hurting small entrepreneurs.

“I would add all the francisation laws are an incredible pain in the ass,” he said with the last words in English. “We (in the business community) don’t give a damn about this at all.”

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Legault’s ministers also put on a united front in criticizing the federal government’s attitude toward Quebec, starting with Roberge criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for wading into domestic political issues Friday in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron.

“I think Mr. Trudeau slipped up, as we say,” Roberge told reporters Saturday. “It was not very deft. It’s not a good idea to fight in front of visitors.”

“Mr. (François) Legault displayed the stature of a man of state. He did not criticize in the presence of Mr. Macron. I can’t say the same thing for Mr. Trudeau.”

On Thursday evening, Trudeau made headlines in commenting on the continuing federal-provincial dispute over temporary immigration in the presence of Macron, who was in Canada on a visit.

Trudeau accused Legault of saying things he “knows aren’t true” about immigration.

“It is a shame to hear the (premier) of Quebec sharing things and declarations on immigration that he simply knows are not true,” Trudeau said alongside Macron.

Legault has previously said in the past two years, the number of temporary immigrants in Quebec has doubled to 600,000 from 300,000, which he says is putting pressure on housing, schools and public services.

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Legault has yet to comment on Trudeau’s shot across the bow and did not meet the media Saturday.

Legault and six of his ministers were conspicuously absent for a federally sponsored dinner in Montreal in honour of Macron’s visit.

There was speculation it was a sign of displeasure, but Legault said he has never had any plans to be there, while his ministers all said the invitations arrived at the last minute and they were unable to adjust their schedules.

Roberge said In his case he had a family event that had been in the works for months and could not attend.

Legault’s team said he had to prepare for this weekend’s CAQ workshop. He leaves early in the new week to attend the annual summit of francophone countries in Paris. Trudeau is attending the same event.

Roberge insisted relations between individual Quebec ministers and their federal counterparts remain smooth. He met with federal Immigration Minister Marc Millar and Public Security Minister Dominique LeBlanc on Tuesday to discuss the temporary immigrant situation. He said the meeting was “cordial.”

“Relations are completely OK,” Roberge said. “It’s true there has been no advancement on the asylum seeker question, but the communication channel is not broken. Sincerely, I don’t think advancing issues related to Quebec and Canada hinge on a supper.”

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Other ministers were split on the nature of their relations with their Ottawa counterparts who are in the midst of a high stakes political game of chicken as the Trudeau’s minority government struggles to survive.

“It’s tense, it’s tense,” said Sonia Bélanger, the junior health minister. “We communicate, but there’s no follow-up, no decisions are taken.”

Benoit Charette, the minister of the Environment, mentioned the continuing feud between Quebec and Ottawa over the future of Quebec’s declining caribou herd.

He said Ottawa has shown a lack of respect toward Quebec threatening a decree to solve the issue without respecting the province’s jurisdictions. The decree would designate protected zones for the caribou, but Quebec says that would cost Quebec’s forestry industry $1 billion.

“There is disagreement which runs deep,” Charette said. “There’s no doubt about it. They are inviting us to dinner for fools. They dangle big dollars, but they are related to two completely different subjects.”

pauthier@postmedia.com

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