After revitalizing the Bécancour industrial park with the arrival of important players in the battery sector, Prime Minister François Legault reiterates that this is only the beginning of announcements regarding this sector of activity in Quebec.
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In an interview with TVA Nouvelles, the Quebec premier reiterates that Quebecers have not heard the last of the battery industry.
“I won’t take it into my own hands, but there are many more announcements to come,” he says.
Within two weeks the government should announce a private investment of 7 billion in this direction.
The North Volt company in particular would be interested in Quebec.
“Without revealing anything, […] Why are they looking at Quebec? Because we are the only ones who say that your factory is not powered by gas, but by hydroelectricity and wind power,” emphasizes the Prime Minister.
“It will be crucial to be environmentally friendly in everything we do,” he adds. If we agree with GM and Ford, they will have a factory in Quebec that will produce the most environmentally friendly batteries for electric vehicles.”
Mr. Legault also wanted to defend the $900 million in financial assistance already granted for projects in the sector.
“We have to make sure that every time we invest a dollar, we get more than a dollar in benefits for Quebecers,” he says.
“We are better than the Americans at two things: thanks to Hydro-Québec we have clean energy, and we are able to do more because we have the expertise to prepare large-scale projects like the ones we planned 25 years ago . They are coming to Quebec.”
With these large investments, the government wanted to ensure its integration into the global green energy market and counteract American protectionism.
“On average, manufacturing jobs pay 35% more than the average for all jobs,” says Mr. Legault. Whether Trump or Biden, they would like to bring it back [les usines situées en Asie, en Amérique du Nord] and they have programs in place, so there is definitely competition and we have done our calculations.”
For the town of Bécancour, hit hard by the closure of the Gentilly nuclear power plant in 2012, the arrival of key players in the automotive and battery industries has had a positive impact.
“It has really been a hard blow for the region and the Gentilly sector has suffered a serious blow,” says Donald Martel, MP for Nicolet-Bécancour. When I think about the businesses that could have been there, there were a lot of houses for sale.”
“It’s still almost 1,000 jobs at almost $100,000 a year that we lost in one fell swoop, it was a really important industry,” he continues.
Created in 1968, the Quebec government’s only industrial park, despite the presence of an aluminum smelter, no longer had policies in place until projects related to the battery sector were announced.
“The first time I visited this park in Bécancour was with Donald Martel,” says the Prime Minister, informs Mr. Legault. He told me: “François, this is our largest industrial park in Canada, but there is no cat there, there is no store, and today there is no space there.”
“It is certain that the next battery factories will be built somewhere other than Bécancour,” he continues. We will install them wherever there is space in Quebec.”
It’s a real race now, as GM started construction in the winter and Ford and Némaska Lithium are also showing up, creating more than 1,000 direct jobs.
This community of 14,700 inhabitants must therefore prepare for the arrival of 3,000 to 5,000 workers within seven years.
“Many projects are already underway,” assures the mayor of Bécancour, Lucie Allard. A new school is also planned in one of the districts and school expansions are also planned. The major project we are working on is a cross-border school that will be built in the industrial park.”
The community’s goal is to prevent it from becoming a bedroom community.
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