Quebec Liberal leadership hopeful in favour of LNG-Quebec amid tariff turbulation

Quebec Liberal Party leadership candidate Charles Milliard speaks during a media availability as the Quebec Liberal Party caucus meets in Gatineau, Que., on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

The two frontrunners in the Quebec Liberal leadership race are adding supporters, while the topic of LNG-Quebec support is on the agenda for one candidate.

Charles Milliard open to studying new LNG-Quebec

Aspiring Liberal leader Charles Milliard is open to the idea of re-examining LNG-Québec in light of the changing energy and economic context.

He has also just received the support of Serge Simard, a former Liberal minister from Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean who dreams of seeing the project come to fruition in his region.

“If a project like LNG-Quebec were to be resubmitted, offering clear guarantees of its contribution to the energy transition, it would deserve to be studied,” Charles Milliard told The Canadian Press in a message.

LNG-Québec is a controversial pipeline and liquid natural gas terminal project in Saguenay aimed at exporting Alberta natural gas. Quebec refused to authorize the project in 2021 and Ottawa in 2022, notably for environmental reasons.

“The energy and economic context is changing, and it is legitimate to review projects from a new perspective. Any energy proposal must be rigorously assessed in terms of environmental imperatives, economic spin-offs for Quebec and social acceptability,” added the aspiring Liberal leader.

‘Do I need to draw you a picture?’

Simard, who was also Minister for Natural Resources, criticized former Liberal leader Dominique Anglade for taking a stance against the project.

Simard maintains that it is “extremely important to support” LNQ-Québec, and even more so today given Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

“A region like Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, its niches of excellence are aluminium, forestry and agriculture. I don’t need to tell you that these are the three niches that are going to be most attacked by our neighbour to the south. Do I need to draw you a picture of that?” said Simard in a telephone call with The Canadian Press. “That’s why it’s so important to be able to diversify and have the possibility of having LNG in Quebec.”

The Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) is still officially opposed to the project, but discussions are underway within the caucus on the subject.

After saying no to the project in 2021, Environment Minister Benoit Charette reopened the door to LNQ-Québec on Wednesday.

Federal Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly also opened the door to the project on Tuesday.

Two unfavourable reports

In April 2021, the report of the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) clearly stated that there was no social acceptability in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region and that the project had not demonstrated its relevance.

In February 2022, in a 285-page report, the Canadian Impact Assessment Agency stated that the project was likely to harm the environment, after a six-year review.

The aim of the plant was to export 11 million tons of natural gas a year from Western Canada to Europe and Asia by ship, over a period of 25 to 50 years.

Youth wing president resigns and supports Rodriguez

The president of the Quebec Liberal Party’s youth commission, Christian Alex Deschênes, is resigning to support Pablo Rodriguez in his leadership bid, The Canadian Press has learned.

“I felt I didn’t necessarily belong on the sidelines watching what was going on,” he said. “I wanted to get involved and it was Pablo’s team that I chose. I think we’re on the right track and ready to win this leadership race.”

Under the rules of the body, the president cannot take a position in a leadership race while retaining his position.

“I can no longer be ethical and that’s why I’m resigning,” he says.

Deschênes' desire to get involved in a race has clearly caused tension within the CJPLQ.

A letter signed by members of the youth wing executive called for “the immediate resignation of its president’ because of discussions Christian Alex Deschênes had with a view to joining Mr. Rodriguez’s team.”

The letter was handed to him on Wednesday evening.

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by La Presse Canadienne, states: “Mr. Deschênes had presented himself under the theme of neutrality (...) In view of his failure to respect this obligation, the majority of the members of the executive are asking him to hand in his immediate resignation.”

The main interested party insists that everything was done according to the rules and that nobody forced his hand.

“It was planned that I should resign this morning (Thursday) at 6 a.m. (...) The people who should have been informed were informed within the party,” he said.

He described the situation as a “tempest in a teapot.”

In addition to former federal Liberal minister Rodriguez and Milliard, the PLQ leadership candidates are former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre, tax lawyer Marc Bélanger and Beauce farmer Mario Roy.

The Liberals will elect their new leader on 14 June 2025.

These reports by The Canadian Press were first published in French on Feb. 6, 2025.