GNL Québec: Poilievre ‘thinks he can convince Quebecers’

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wants to revive the GNL Quebec liquefied gas project and “believes he can convince Quebecers” of its relevance, even though it was rejected at the time, notably due to a lack of social acceptability.

“The status quo, where we sell 100 per cent of our natural gas to the United States to benefit Donald Trump, has no social acceptability,” the Conservative leader declared during a press scrum Thursday in Jonquière, in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean.

In 2021, Quebec refused to authorize the Saguenay pipeline and GNL terminal project to export Albertan natural gas. Ottawa did the same in 2022.

However, the U.S. tariffs have led to a change of tone on this side of the border. Quebec and Ottawa recently reopened the door to the project.

“GNL Québec could be the cleanest natural gas liquefaction plant in the world. Why? Because it will be powered by zero-emission hydroelectricity,” added the Conservative leader.

In April 2021, the report from the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) clearly stated there was no social acceptability in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region and that the project had not demonstrated its relevance.

The plant’s objective was to export 11 million tonnes of natural gas from Western Canada to Europe and Asia by sea each year for a period of 25 to 50 years. A 780-kilometre-long gas pipeline was also to be built by Gazoduq to transport the gas from Ontario to the Saguenay region.

‘Canadian build-ready zones’

Poilievre was also in the region to announce that if elected premier, he intends to accelerate energy projects like GNL Québec. To do this, he wants to designate areas as “Canadian build-ready zones.”

These would effectively be “pre-approved and pre-authorized zones” for the construction of projects such as mines, data centres, power plants, and GNL liquefaction plants. The goal, among other things, is to speed up the granting of permits to allow companies to build more quickly.

The Conservative leader indicated he intended to work with the Quebec government to grant this designation to Saguenay to accelerate the liquefied natural gas plant project.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews