Battery sector and energy transition | Legault promises two economic booms and tens of thousands of jobs

(Saint-Hyacinthe) Despite the discontent and the headwinds, François Legault defends the “calculated risk” of the battery sector and his energy transition plan, which will create two “economic booms” and tens of thousands of paying jobs, in a speech in front of activists.

“In life, if we don’t take risks, we’re going nowhere,” said the Prime Minister on Saturday, during a conference of the Coalition Avenir Québec on the theme of “listening”.

The CAQ parliamentary re-entry is turbulent. Mr. Legault suffered the loss of his superminister Pierre Fitzgibbon, criticism from Hydro-Québec CEO Michael Sabia on the government’s energy choices, then fierce criticism from opposition parties against the public aid he offered. to struggling battery cell maker Northvolt. This is without counting the resounding departure of his deputy Youri Chassin – who denounced the budgetary choices of the CAQ.

Mr. Legault wants to concentrate on his economic projects. To “those who think that we are still born for nothing” – he targets the opposition parties – the Prime Minister retorted that we must “take risks to move forward” and “build the economy of tomorrow” . A few days before his government’s mid-term, most of his speech focused on this theme.

Doubling the size of Hydro-Québec and attracting manufacturing companies with our electricity will cause “two economic booms”, “tens of thousands of paying jobs” and an “industrial renaissance” of the regions, said Mr. Legault. He places his economic vision in line with the achievements of former prime ministers, such as Robert Bourassa and René Lévesque, and criticizes the Liberal Party and the Parti Québécois, who oppose, he says, his “economic projects”.

Doubts

Holding the conference was intended to allow the CAQ to hear its activists. “Good weather, bad weather, you are there,” said Mr. Legault, addressing them. However, there were fewer of them listening to it than at the start of the day. Several chairs were empty.

Usually very disciplined, CAQ activists expressed doubts about government action during this day-long activity. The CAQ is “collapsing” in the region, warned activist Sylvain Duval, from Portneuf. “It seems like all the big projects you take off, well, they don’t work,” he remarked. While companies “want to have access to money”, the CAQ puts “all its eggs in big businesses”, like “Northvolt which is in the process of crashing”. Meanwhile, Route 55 in Trois-Rivières is still to be done, he began to list, before being interrupted by MP Stéphanie Lachance, who led the workshop. “Thank you, sir, thank you,” she said.

“I love the question,” replied the Minister for the Economy, Christopher Skeete, who was on stage. He affirmed that SMEs were not forgotten by the CAQ.

Another activist, Bruno Boulet, from Lotbinière, is an entrepreneur. He argued that the Quebec government was hurting businesses with red tape. “The application of all laws on francization is un pain in the ass amazing for all entrepreneurs. We really don’t care,” he said.

Quebec also has a deficit of $11 billion, and the size of the state has increased under the Legault government. An activist wondered why the CAQ never created the position of Parliamentary Budget Director; it had already proposed it when the party was in opposition.

Others were more tender. “Can you tell me what are the economic benefits of the battery sector, 100% Quebecois,” said a young activist. “In my opinion it’s a false question,” retorted MP Donald Martel, laughing.

Trudeau criticized

Mr. Legault also mentioned his “small differences with Justin”, and then accused the Prime Minister of Canada of having completely lost control of immigration.

In the morning, his minister Jean-François Roberge denounced a “slip” by Justin Trudeau, who affirmed in front of French President Emmanuel Macron that Mr. Legault was spreading falsehoods about immigration.

“I think Mr. Trudeau missed it. It’s not smart to quibble over the visit,” he lamented in the press scrum.

On Thursday, Mr. Trudeau said, during a joint press briefing with Mr. Macron, that “it is distressing to see the Prime Minister of Quebec sharing statements on immigration that are downright false.”

Other Quebec ministers have the impression that relations are “tense” between Quebec and Ottawa. This is the case of the Minister for Health Sonia Bélanger, who is leading the medical assistance in dying file. Environment Minister Benoit Charette, for his part, opposes a decree from his federal counterpart Steven Guilbeault to protect the woodland caribou. He says he feels like he’s been invited to a “cons’ dinner.”

But where things get stuck more is on immigration. “They haven’t understood anything for a while, and it’s not because we don’t explain it to them. I have 60 schools of 24 classes each that we opened to promote francization. I lack schools, I lack teachers,” lamented the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville.