{"id":55729,"date":"2023-04-27T15:35:42","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T19:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/?p=55729"},"modified":"2023-06-05T12:46:43","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T16:46:43","slug":"consultation-avenir-energetique-quebec-loin-debat-societe-promis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/consultation-avenir-energetique-quebec-loin-debat-societe-promis\/","title":{"rendered":"Consultation on Quebec's energy future: very far from the promised social debate\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/p>\n

PRESS RELEASE
<\/strong>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Montreal, April 27, 2023<\/b> \u2013 Thirty-two environmental, social, citizen and union groups denounce the gap between the Prime Minister's commitment to hold a \u201creal social debate\u201d on energy and the format of the consultation announced<\/a> by the office of the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Mr. Pierre Fitzgibbon, on April 26, 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

Quebec's energy future<\/h3>\n

\u201cThe mock consultation proposed by Minister Fitzgibbon essentially concerns energy production and not the energy future of Quebec as a whole. It is not designed to fuel social dialogue on the vital issues that the energy transition raises, in particular energy consumption and the ecological impacts of projects. Neither independence nor transparency is there. The government clearly takes lightly the importance of the societal choices we have to make,\u201d the groups assess.<\/span><\/p>\n

Public consultation<\/h3>\n

The groups note that the government has ignored the voices that have been raised from all sides in recent months to request a \u201cgeneric\u201d type public consultation led by the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment (BAPE)<\/a> or another form of broad and independent consultation on Quebec's energy future. \u201cThis issue is national in scope, because the resulting projects will have potentially irreversible impacts in all regions. It is therefore essential that these choices obtain a high level of social acceptability and do not trigger a new series of outcry, as was the case with several energy and mining projects,\u201d explain the groups.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The groups deplore that, far from respecting its commitment to hold a social debate, the Legault government is offering the population of Quebec a restricted and opaque reflection exercise.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It only offers civil society an online platform as a space for expression and exchange, during the summer period, from 1<\/span>er<\/span> June to 1<\/span>er<\/span> August 2023. For the rest, the process includes only one day of reflection workshops, in May 2023, reserved for specialists in the energy sector, as well as consultations with representatives of indigenous communities. As for the bill that will be tabled in the fall, it will be the subject of special consultations, which means that they will not be open to everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

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According to studies by Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec and the firm Dunsky \u00c9nergie + Climat on which the government bases its projections, Quebec should produce an additional 100 to 137 TWh of electricity, by 2050, to electrify most of our vehicles. , our buildings and our industries, in addition to the new projects in the pipeline for Minister Fitzgibbon. This means that we would have to build half a Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec in the coming years, as Fran\u00e7ois Legault likes to repeat, or even increase the capacity by 65 % if we want to accommodate new projects.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt what ecological, human and economic costs? Will the population accept a boom in hydroelectric, wind, mining and other developments? <\/span><\/p>\n

Are there better options? Is it really a law that Quebec needs at this time and is it not premature to think about modifying the Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec Act and the R\u00e9gie de l'\u00e9nergie Act, when we haven't even tried to come up with a common vision that would guide all future laws? Why so much haste? \u00bb, Ask the groups.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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According to them, it is to answer these questions and many others that the debate on how to decarbonize Quebec must truly engage all stakeholders, including citizens from all regions, specialists, scientists, trade union organizations, Indigenous Nations as well as the most vulnerable populations, particularly those experiencing energy poverty. Everyone must not only have the opportunity to be heard, but also to dialogue with each other and with the government so that visions that are meaningful and as consensual as possible can emerge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Signatories<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

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  1. Nature Qu\u00e9bec, Emmanuelle Rancourt, energy expert project manager<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Grouping of environmental energy organizations, Jean-Pierre Finet, spokesperson<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. TerraVie, \u00c8ve Duhaime, vice-president<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Common front for the energy transition, Elisabeth Gibeau, coordinator<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Environmental Mobilization Ahuntsic Cartierville (MEAC)<\/span>, <\/span><\/i>Melanie Busby<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. David Suzuki Foundation, Charles Bonhomme, Public Affairs and Communications Manager<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Fondation Rivi\u00e8res, Andr\u00e9 B\u00e9langer, general director<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. NO to an oil spill in the St. Lawrence, Martin Poirier, co-founder<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. Greenpeace Canada, Patrick Bonin, head of the Climate-Energy campaign<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. Quebec Better Look Coalition, Rodrigue Turgeon, spokesperson<\/span><\/li>\n
  11. Quebec Federation of Workers (FTQ), Denis Bolduc, general secretary<\/span><\/li>\n
  12. Quebec hydrocarbon vigilance group, Bruno Detuncq, member of the coordination committee<\/span><\/li>\n
  13. Prosperity Without Oil, Benoit St-Hilaire, spokesperson<\/span><\/li>\n
  14. \u00c9quiterre, Marc-Andr\u00e9 Viau, director of government relations<\/span><\/li>\n
  15. Quebec network of environmental groups, Maude Prud'homme, social ecology agent<\/span><\/li>\n
  16. Environmental action Basses-Laurentides, Normand Beaudet, energy spokesperson<\/span><\/li>\n
  17. Alliance of professional and technical personnel in health and social services (APTS), \u00c9milie Charbonneau, 2<\/span>e<\/span> vice-president<\/span><\/li>\n
  18. Foundation Coule pas chez nous, Jean Paradis, administrator<\/span><\/li>\n
  19. Montreal Climate Coalition, Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Boisvert, president<\/span><\/li>\n
  20. Transition Capitale-Nationale, Lucie Bergeron, member<\/span><\/li>\n
  21. UNEplan\u00e8te eco-citizen movement, Carole Dupuis, spokesperson<\/span><\/li>\n
  22. Quebec Public and Parapublic Service Union (SFPQ), Karine Dextras-Paquette, vice-president<\/span><\/li>\n
  23. Climate Action Network Canada, Le\u00efla Cantave, responsible for Quebec<\/span><\/li>\n
  24. Eric Pineault, professor and president of the scientific committee of the Institute of Environmental Sciences, UQAM<\/span><\/li>\n
  25. Public Service Union (CUPE-Qu\u00e9bec), Dominic Champagne, VP Energy sector<\/span><\/li>\n
  26. Friends of Chicot de Saint-Cuthbert, Danielle Demers, president<\/span><\/li>\n
  27. Ecological transition La P\u00eache, Yolande Henry, founding member<\/span><\/li>\n
  28. Pol\u00e9mos degrowth, Philippe Gauthier, member of the scientific committee<\/span><\/li>\n
  29. Environmental solidarity Sutton, Sylvie Berthiaume, vice-president<\/span><\/li>\n
  30. Central Council of Metropolitan Montreal \u2013 CSN, Dominique Daigneault, president<\/span><\/li>\n
  31. Coalition Let\u2019s take out the gas!, Marie-No\u00eblle Foschini, coordinator<\/span><\/li>\n
  32. Mothers at the front, Gabrielle Spenard-Bernier, coordinator<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Photo: Fre Sonneveld\/Unsplash<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    Communications and Mobilization Leader
    \nFondation Rivi\u00e8res
    \n514-272-2666, ext. 307 <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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    To go further<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWrite to the government of Quebec that we can do better than dams<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Press release \u2013 Thirty-two environmental, social, citizen and union groups denounce the gap between the Prime Minister's commitment to holding a \u201creal societal debate\u201d on energy and the format of the consultation announced by the minister's office of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Mr. Pierre Fitzgibbon, April 26, 2023.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[47,56,57],"class_list":["post-55729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communiques","tag-energie","tag-hydro-quebec","tag-hydroelectricite"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}