This morning, in front of the offices of Quebec Premier François Legault, organizations from community, environmental and union circles denounced the deviations from Bill 69 aimed at ensuring responsible governance of Quebec’s energy resources and demanded a serious public debate on energy.
There are many concerns. “With this bill, the CAQ is attacking an indispensable service. “If we allow the private sector to produce electricity, we will be turning an essential public service into an industry subject to market fluctuations. Electricity will cost more to produce, and it will have a major impact on bills,” pointed out Pierre-Guy Sylvestre, an economist with CUPE.
In Quebec, one in seven households cannot manage to pay their electricity bill or do so to the detriment of other basic needs. The high cost of energy is one of the main causes of energy precarity. “If the bill is passed as is, this situation, which is already unacceptable, will only get worse,” said Émilie Laurin-Dansereau of the ACEF du Nord de Montréal.
Moreover, the bill does not have any clear messages to ensure decarbonization. “Bill 69 favours industrial development instead and passes on the cost of new necessary energy infrastructures needed for this development, resulting in higher electricity rates, which constitutes a social and environmental injustice,” said Melanie Busby of the Front commun pour la transition énergétique.
All action to oversee and develop clean energy in Quebec must be taken with due concern given to equity. “In order to ensure that matters of social justice are taken into account, a bona fide discussion is needed where everyone can take part. Using the energy transition as a pretext to give gifts to industries and multinationals to the detriment of the most precarious members of society is out of the question,” said Julie Corbeil of the Table régionale des organismes volontaires d’éducation populaire, TROVEP de Montréal.
The demonstration by ACEF du Nord and the TROVEP de Montréal is part of a call for broader-based action against Bill 69. This morning, six regions in Quebec were also actively pressing the government to put the needs of the public ahead of the interests of major companies.