MONT-SAINT-GRÉGOIRE – Despite the talks Pierre Fitzgibbon may have had with the federal government, François Legault ensures his position on the LNG Quebec project has not changed: “The door is closed,” he said, he repeats.
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At least, that’s true of the project, which the Legault government rejected in the summer of 2021, particularly because it planned to “have a pipe going across Quebec,” well beyond the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean borders, recalled join the main caquiste, Wednesday.
“What we are saying right now: the project will be rejected by the BAPE, then there will be no social acceptance in Quebec, so the door is closed, for good,” the outgoing prime minister said.
Radio-Canada reported on Wednesday that during the German Chancellor’s visit, its outgoing Economy Minister, Pierre Fitzgibbon, hinted that the Quebec government might reconsider its position in the current context.
“Our position has not changed. BAPE rejected the project and we rejected the project, then nothing changed,” summarized Mr. Legault.
green hydrogen
“However, we are open to exporting green hydrogen,” he said.
“Let’s not forget that the hydrogen that would be produced in Quebec would be produced with clean electricity,” argued the CAQ leader.
But right now, global green hydrogen prices are lower than the marginal cost of producing green hydrogen.
“The price has to be good,” explained Mr. Legault. Electricity must be available, but we are open to exporting green hydrogen to Germany, not gas.”
For her part, the leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec also reiterated that an “Anglade government would say yes to green hydrogen projects” if it did not support GNL Quebec.
However, she fears that the MM Legault and Fitzgibbon are negotiating “on the sly.”
“We have to be able to combine economy with ecology. That’s not what GNL does,” she said.
QS questions Legault’s word
For his part, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois does not believe the Prime Minister. “In the environment, we cannot trust François Legault,” said Québec Solidaire’s spokesman. François Legault said he closed the door on GNL Québec a few months ago and there we learn that his favorite minister, Pierre Fitzgibbon, is on a mission to Ottawa to test and see if the project might not be able to resume . »
“Here is another example of the CAQ’s lack of transparency,” said the President of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
“We wonder what the actual intent of the CAQ is,” he said. What’s happening behind the scenes? There’s a reason only 31% of Quebecers are satisfied with the CAQ when it comes to the environment. »
– With Nicolas Lachance, Patrick Bellerose and Annabelle Blais