{"id":54243,"date":"2023-02-03T16:46:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-03T21:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/?p=54243"},"modified":"2023-09-11T15:00:51","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T19:00:51","slug":"lettre-comite-economie-transition-energetique-demande-bape-generique-avenir-energetique-quebec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/lettre-comite-economie-transition-energetique-demande-bape-generique-avenir-energetique-quebec\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to the Committee on the Economy and Energy Transition: Request for a \u201cgeneric BAPE\u201d on Quebec\u2019s energy future"},"content":{"rendered":"
February 3, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Fran\u00e7ois Legault, Prime Minister of Quebec Prime Minister, We, the undersigned, 110 signatories from the environmental, environmentalist, community, union, university, student, agricultural, nature protection, rights defense, health, education, law circles of the environment, sustainable mobility, local consultation and others, we are addressing you in your capacity as president and members of the Committee on the Economy and Energy Transition, in order to ask you to take the necessary measures to trigger holding an investigation with public hearings, commonly called a \u201cgeneric BAPE\u201d, on Quebec\u2019s energy future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your government announced in the opening speech of November 30, 2022 its intention to have a \u201creal societal debate\u201d on Quebec's energy future, and confirmed on January 26 the holding of a public consultation on this subject. of primary importance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We understand that the decarbonization of Quebec's energy system is long overdue, that the R\u00e9gie de l'\u00e9nergie, Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec and the companies requesting the supply of electricity need new guidelines, and that the construction of new energy infrastructure necessarily extends over several years. Nevertheless, it seems essential to us that decisions on these subjects are not taken hastily, in restricted circles, in pieces and without an overall view because they will have major impacts on regions potentially targeted for extraction projects. mining and production of renewable energies, on agricultural land and the natural environments found there, on waterways and on the ecosystems which make them viable territories as well as on the health and quality of life of the populations who live there. They are closely linked to Quebec's economic orientations and industrial policy as well as to the modes of production, consumption, housing and travel that underlie our energy consumption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, it is essential to convince the population that the promised social debate is not a simple formality and that decisions are not taken in advance. On the contrary, as highlighted in the open letter<\/a> published in Le Devoir on January 17, 2023 and signed by 80 organizations from various sectors, the debate on the decarbonization of Quebec's energy system must in our opinion be \u201creal\u201d and include the scientific community, civil society in all its diversity, indigenous peoples and the most vulnerable populations, who risk being penalized by the transition if they are not duly consulted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A truly broad and open consultation is essential to reach strong consensus, identify promising and appropriate solutions in addition to promoting the support and mobilization of the whole of society in the face of the numerous challenges posed by the transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quebec has, to carry out this type of exercise, an institution whose credibility no longer needs to be demonstrated and which has often been cited as a model outside Quebec: the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment. (BAPE). <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why we are asking you to order the holding of an investigation with public hearings, commonly called a \u201cgeneric BAPE\u201d, on Quebec's energy future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also ask you not to limit the role of the BAPE to specific questions but rather to entrust it with the mandate to address the decarbonization of Quebec's energy system as a whole, taking into account the climate crisis and Quebec's fair share in the efforts required to mitigate it, the constraints posed by the depletion of resources, the degradation of natural environments and the collapse of biodiversity, the repercussions of decisions on workers, the rights of indigenous peoples and the issues of social acceptability associated with the various possible trajectories. These varied perspectives will allow the population as well as public decision-makers to fully understand the potential and real impacts of each energy sector, including sobriety and efficiency, which will lead to an intelligent and intelligible debate on the trade-offs. which are available to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Energy sobriety is on the contrary the fruit of a coherent set of public policies and government programs affecting, in all sectors, infrastructure, investments, taxation, regulation and pricing, and leading to the capacity to respond to needs of the population while substantially reducing the demand for primary energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, we cannot overemphasize the importance of full participation in the generic BAPE being truly accessible to the population of all regions of Quebec and to all groups in society. Innovative participation support mechanisms should be put in place to ensure meaningful contribution from indigenous communities and vulnerable or marginalized populations whose voices are not always heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr Prime Minister, Gentlemen Ministers, we understand and share your desire to make smooth progress on the major project of decarbonization of the energy system. However, we believe that haste could slow down the progress of the file rather than accelerate it, while the few additional months devoted to a real social debate will pave the way for effective implementation of the collective choices that will result from it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The success or failure of Quebec's energy transition will undoubtedly be the most fundamental legacy that your government will leave in the history of Quebec. Evading the more thorny issues and rushing the deployment of an energy policy that has not been carefully thought through and debated would risk generating a host of outcry that will paralyze action instead of stimulating it, and lead to a bitter historical failure \u2013\u2013 when on the contrary, it is up to you to seize this unique opportunity to define with the population a real social project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pending your response, which we hope is favorable, we thank you for your attention and ask you to accept, Mr Prime Minister, Gentlemen Ministers, the expression of our respectful feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Signatory organizations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Signatory academics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Energy and Minister responsible for Regional Economic Development
Mr. Eric Girard, Minister of Finance and Minister responsible for Relations with English-speaking Quebecers
Mr. Benoit Charette, Minister of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks
Mr. Ian Lafreni\u00e8re, Minister responsible for Relations with First Nations and Inuit<\/p>\n\n\n\nSubject: Request for a \u201cgeneric BAPE\u201d on Quebec\u2019s energy future<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ministers,<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhile we are delighted with these announcements, we question the nature of the social debate envisaged and want to insist on the need for it to have all the completeness, all the credibility and all the legitimacy which are required with regard to the crucial importance and the interdependence of the collective choices that will result from it. <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
We believe that the BAPE has developed the best processes \u2013 particularly when it comes to a \u201cgeneric BAPE\u201d \u2013 to ensure a neutral and exhaustive examination of the environmental, social and economic issues raised by the energy choices available. in Quebec and that it provides the most legitimate framework for orchestrating a social debate on this issue. <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Regarding sobriety, we would like to recall that it is the first pillar of 2026 upgrade of the Master Plan for energy transition, innovation and efficiency<\/a> that your government put into force on June 10, 2022 (followed by efficiency and, thirdly, conversion to renewable energies), and that it does not consist of inflicting punitive measures on the various energy consuming customers. <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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