It was not until early 2023 that the government would start tackling the means “to fix the electricity shortage if there is a shortage,” concluded Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon. (Photo: The Canadian Press)
Quebec — Energy Secretary Pierre Fitzgibbon has no idea where Hydro-Quebec’s future dams will be located.
He was thus responding to a question from the Parti Québécois as to where the future works desired by Prime Minister François Legault would be built.
Hydro-Quebec said Wednesday it could not positively identify which flows were being held back.
“We need to seriously think about building new dams,” said the CAQ leader in his opening speech last week, to increase electricity production from 200 to 300 TWh by 2050.
However, according to PQ MP Pascal Bérubé, north coast residents have a right to know which river is used in their area.
“Why should we hide this?” the Matane-Matapédia MP asked at a press conference in the National Assembly on Wednesday morning.
“We can wire in advance that the wind farms are in northern Quebec, but we cannot identify the river. Why? Maybe because it’s sensitive from a heritage perspective, from its ecosystem perspective, from a First Nations relationship perspective. Let it be said. I think the minister knows that flow.”
“We haven’t discussed it yet, it’s too early,” Mr Fitzgibbon retorted in a press crowd on Wednesday morning.
“Hydro is doing studies, they’ve certainly done them before, but I haven’t had a study report yet,” he continued. He refused to advance on the potential rivers, even if the magpie on the north shore was already the object of desire.
“The Magpie is one of the rivers with hydroelectric potential,” confirmed the state company’s spokesman, Francis Labbé, in an interview with The Canadian Press on Wednesday afternoon.
“But social acceptance is part of the project,” he added – as organizations are mobilized to protect this majestic waterway.
The teams are “refreshing the hydrological potential” of the rivers, Mr Labbé explained, as previous studies need to be “updated”.
“Hydro has probably already conducted studies but it is premature to close on one side or the other at this point,” Mr Fitzgibbon told a press crowd in Parliament on Wednesday morning.
There has been “no discussion” between the ministry and Hydro-Quebec, he continued, adding that the government has asked Hydro to “consider all possibilities.”
Only in early 2023 will the government grab the funds “to fix the electricity shortage if there is a shortage,” the minister concluded.
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