A Parti Québécois government would not necessarily oppose new gas or oil pipelines
Posted January 25, 2026 1:42 pm.
A potential Parti Québécois government would not be closed to projects for the construction or expansion of oil or gas pipelines on Quebec territory.
Meeting in congress in Saint-Hyacinthe, members of the Parti Québécois rejected on Sunday a proposal that aimed to close the door to this type of project.
Among the arguments raised against this draft resolution, one member stated at the microphone that he feared it would prohibit the connection of industrial facilities to a necessary gas supply.
The proposal was defeated by a fairly large majority.
Gas and oil pipeline projects have returned to the forefront in recent years to export hydrocarbons from Western Canada, securing markets for them in the United States or overseas.
Moreover, last year, a gas pipeline project several hundred kilometers long linking Western Canada to Baie-Comeau, on the North Shore, was discussed, with a view to building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal.
Parti Québécois activists also rejected the idea of a “progressive” residential electricity tariff, intended to discourage owners of very large houses who overconsume energy, but also to “protect the less fortunate.”
In addition, PQ members also rejected a proposal that would have forced Hydro-Québec to reject any private electricity production and distribution project, and instead accept, “in terms of production, only partnerships with municipalities, intermunicipal boards, Indigenous communities, and other public and community actors.”
French language
The PQ has pledged, if elected, to adopt a new law on the protection of the French language, even though the CAQ government has already implemented its reform of the Charter of the French Language.
This new PQ law would aim to “ensure the integration of newcomers within a framework of cultural convergence”, it is proposed.
“It will form the cornerstone of its cultural policy and affirm the common culture of Quebecers.”
Parti Québécois activists have also spoken in favour of adding a mandatory Quebec History course at the college level, even though there are already mandatory History courses at the secondary level.
However, some PQ members who taught at the college level objected that the compulsory course curriculum was already full and that one of the compulsory subjects would therefore have to be removed.
But an activist from Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Benjamin Brassard, argued that it would be enough to “remove one English course”, adding that “an extra History course is never too much”!
Finally, congress participants asked a potential Parti Québécois government to “consider the possibility of extending the voting age to 16, while putting in place a plan to further politicize Quebec youth.”
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
