Even if the contract does not expire until 2041, it is not too early to agree on a new agreement, the prime minister said.
We need to renegotiate this now, he revealed Wednesday morning during an interview with Patrice Roy, in which Mr Legault was particularly determined to develop Quebec’s energy sector.
According to the prime minister, the goal of carbon neutrality that his government has set for 2050 makes it all the more urgent to renegotiate the agreement signed between Quebec and Saint-Jean.
Mr. Legault also does not hide his interest in the Gull Island dam project downstream of the Churchill River. However, the Prime Minister warns he will not come empty-handed to the meeting he and Andrew Furey have agreed. Hydro-Quebec, he recalls, also has four or five projects on Quebec territory.
“I don’t want to deal with Newfoundland and say, ‘I really need your power.’ I want to have a plan B in my pocket and say, “If that doesn’t work, Churchill Falls and Gull Island, we, [on va faire notre propre] Dam.” “
— A quote from François Legault, Premier of Quebec
The Churchill Falls Treaty encompasses a vast amount of energy. The plant provides almost 15% of Hydro-Québec’s needs, or 31 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy per year.
Premier Legault does not want the state-owned company to remain dependent on a hydroelectric power plant that is not even on its territory. Hence the need for a “Plan B”.
I have to have that in my pocket, and that was part of the talks with Sophie Brochu, he said of Hydro-Quebec’s resigning president. The latter announced its departure two weeks ago; It is not yet known who will replace her.
In the meantime, it cannot be ruled out that she will be invited to a parliamentary committee to explain the reasons for her resignation. If necessary, the Prime Minister will not resist, he confirmed on Wednesday.
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News of a Legault-Furey meeting about Churchill Falls came as we learned this week that Uashat mak Mani-utenam’s band council had filed a lawsuit against Hydro-Québec and CFLCo, the company that operates the center in question.
The Innu government submitted its application to the Superior Court last Friday. He is demanding $2.2 billion from Hydro-Québec, which he accuses of having destroyed its territory.
Education remains Legault’s top priority
François Legault met Patrice Roy for 25 minutes on Wednesday after visiting Léry, near Châteauguay, the primary school of L’Archipel, which presented itself as the first educational establishment to be born, among all those , which have since been appointed by the CAQ came to power in 2018.
This was a great opportunity for the Prime Minister to reiterate that despite all the environmental and health debates, education remains his top priority.
In particular, in his view, it is important to continue the establishment of 4-year kindergarten classes, even if, due to the lack of recruitment, these are temporarily entrusted to teachers who do not necessarily have a high school diploma in education.
Mr Legault has also shown his determination not to dismiss the issue of integrating students with difficulties into mainstream education, despite many voices criticizing this practice.
Enlarge picture (New window)François Legault visited the new L’Archipel school in Léry in Montérégie on Wednesday morning.
Photo: Radio Canada / Daniel Thomas
The prime minister was in Léry when Justin Trudeau confirmed in a press conference an hour earlier that he had invited his provincial counterparts to Ottawa to attend a Feb. 7 meeting to increase federal health transfers, which it said was possible lead to a 10-year contract according to our information.
When asked about the matter, Mr Legault insisted that it would be a working session while reassuring that no agreement would be announced that day. Signing the 7th was out of the question, he assured.
The texts under discussion would provide for the creation of two separate budgets, Mr Legault explained: the first would be dedicated to the priorities jointly determined by the two levels of government, while the second would be left to the discretion of the provinces.
The Globe and Mail last week mentioned a $70 billion envelope reserved for Ontario. According to the daily, part of this sum will be used to improve home care and build long-term care facilities to ease the pressure on hospitals.
All in all, an equivalent deal would result in a federal investment of $42 billion over 10 years in Quebec.
Patrice Roy’s full interview with Prime Minister Legault will be broadcast later in the day at 5pm on ICI RDI and 6pm on Téléjournal.