Northvolt: Fitzgibbon believes “bad information” was spread | The battery industry

Now back in civilian life, former “superminister” Pierre Fitzgibbon, who left office last month, spoke of the disappointment, even frustration, he felt towards certain journalists, particularly on the subject from Northvolt.

In interview on the show Anything can happenon the airwaves of ICI Première and now on the airwaves of ICI RDI, the former Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Energy returned to Marie-Louise Arsenault’s microphone on certain criticisms that he had already formulated against the wokisme and the militants behind the media coverage of the Northvolt project and the battery industry.

Today, we have so much information from the media, conclusions are sometimes poorly drawnindicated the former member of Terrebonne.

There are several journalists who do not report all the facts and who have opinions, who campaign. […] Let’s get all the facts straight, and then we can conclude.

Present on the set, journalist and host Noémi Mercier commented on these remarks, more particularly those concerning Northvolt.

The facts were not all known either. It’s a file [dans lequel] the government has been criticized for its lack of transparency and opacityindicated Ms. Mercier, who has already hosted The Fil 17 on Noovo.

[Vous reprochez] to journalists that they do not have all the facts, while the government does not reveal all the facts.

Perhaps, but there were things that were put forward that were not true. In the case of Northvolt, particularly, there was, in my opinion, bad information. There was poor communication on both sidesreplied the minister.

I think blaming the government is a little too easy.

A sometimes complicated relationship with journalists

Last March, The Duty had revealed that Pierre Fitzgibbon, then Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Energy, had attacked the work of Alexandre Shields, Dutyand Thomas Gerbet, from Radio-Canada.

Shields and Gerbet are, in my opinion, “militant” journalists in bad faith who twist the facts to get their message across. Fortunately, they do not influence the population. But I had to decry that they twist the factshe denounced in an email response sent to Alain Gaulin, lawyer and member of the Regional Environmental Action Movement, who denounced the personal attacks launched by the government against journalists.

At the end of February, Mr. Fitzgibbon had already expressed his dissatisfaction with the coverage of the battery sector, affirming that people who want to make up stories should write novelsin reference to journalists.

In 2022, a journalist from Montreal Journal had tried to contact Pierre Fitzgibbon to question him about a personal donation of $5 million to HEC Montréal.

The CAQ minister preferred to respond publicly on his social media accounts, a maneuver described as intimidation by the Professional Federation of Journalists of Quebec (FPJQ).

The battery sector, a great success for Quebec

Despite his departure from the political world, Pierre Fitzgibbon persists and signs by affirming that the battery sector will be a great success for Quebec.

It is, in my opinion, the most relevant industrial project since James Bay.

The Northvolt project has been heavily affected in recent months, in particular due to the financial difficulties of the Swedish company, which is undergoing restructuring and had to cut 1,600 jobs in Sweden a few weeks ago.

Pierre Fitzgibbon believes that the company’s setbacks are only temporary, and that the best is yet to come, especially since Quebec is well positioned in this sector.

Northvolt will survive. There will be a restructuring. It took Elon Musk 16 years before he started making money. I think that to say that the battery sector will not be a success is to go a little too quickly.