To Mr. Jean-François Simard
Member of Parliament for Montmorency
Chairman of the Public Finance Commission
National Assembly of Quebec
Mr. Deputy,
The Conservative Party of Quebec is concerned by the financial catacomb of the battery industry which is unfolding before the eyes of Quebec taxpayers.
The financial aid granted to Northvolt raises serious questions about the degree of analysis carried out before committing nearly $2.9 billion of Quebecers’ taxes for the first phase of the project alone.
Underestimated difficulty level
The famous Financial Times of London is following this matter closely. In a detailed file published on October 17, three of its journalists explain having spoken with ex-employees or with others who are still there. According to them, the level of difficulty in executing the project to build and operate the battery factory in Sweden was greatly underestimated, as Northvolt’s flagship factory in Sweden was not capable of producing at more than 1% of its capacity.
Chinese technological advance and operational expertise have been greatly downplayed. In addition, the lack of expertise of staff, both managers and engineers, technicians and production staff, was highlighted.
The Financial Times now reports that people involved in the negotiations said its future would likely be decided in the coming days after talks on a bailout package collapsed.
Existing problems
All the problems exposed by the Financial Times existed when François Legault announced, in an emotional voice, the “historic” commitment of your government.
Hadn’t senior officials from the Ministry of the Economy or Investissement Québec carried out a risk analysis and due diligence exercise before signing the commitments? Have they looked at the battery market, Chinese competition, and the skills and experience of managers? Have they retained experts to examine the quality and quantity of the Swedish factory’s output? How did they not see what came to light less than a year later? Did these mandarins botch the analysis, were they fooled like novice investors or, worse yet, were their recommendations short-circuited for political purposes?
Taxpayers, the very people who are truly at risk, deserve an answer to these questions. We ask you to urgently hold public hearings to elucidate these questions and also to obtain and make public the analyzes if they exist and the recommendations which led to what could be one of the greatest financial fiascos in the history of Quebec .
Adrien Pouliot
Adrien Pouliot
Spokesperson for the economy and public finances
Conservative Party of Quebec