QUEBEC — The Legault government refuses to give up on new pipelines in Quebec.
He thus echoes Jean Charest, now launched in the race for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, who recently expressed his openness to the construction of new pipelines.
The debate on the construction of pipelines to export hydrocarbons has been revived with renewed vigor since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia: European countries want to free themselves as quickly as possible from their dependence on Russian gas and could therefore turn to Canada.
Québec solidaire therefore tried to clarify the intentions of the CAQ government by tabling a motion Tuesday afternoon in the National Assembly.
The text called for taking note of “certain voices which are raised in an attempt to relaunch the exploitation, exploration and transport of oil and gas on our territory”.
Manon Massé led the motion, which also recalled the context of rising oil and gas prices which should encourage the acceleration of the energy transition.
Finally, the motion called for no more construction or expansion of gas and oil pipelines in Quebec.
The motion was also supported by the Parti Québécois and three independent MNAs, Marie Montpetit, Sylvain Roy and Harold LeBel.
CAQ parliamentary leader Sébastien Schneeberger, however, refused to allow the motion to be debated.
The government had already been criticized by the opposition and by environmental groups for not banning the construction of pipelines, in its bill currently under study which aims to put an end to the research and exploitation of hydrocarbons in Quebec.
In a speech launching his run for the Conservative Party leadership in Calgary last week, Jean Charest stressed that he was open to building new pipelines, an attractive stance for conservative activists in the West.
He recalled that when he was at the head of a Liberal government in Quebec, he had authorized the construction of such an infrastructure for transporting hydrocarbons.
Patrice Bergeron, The Canadian Press