Premier Smith announces plan to reinforce vaccine choice in Alberta Bill of Rights

QUEBEC – Several Indigenous groups are calling on the Quebec government to distance itself from the “colonialist mentality” as it designs a new $92-million history museum project in the provincial capital.

The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, the First Nations Education Council and an Innu cultural centre — Institut Tshakapesh — made their feelings known about the project in a brief submitted about a government bill to create the museum.

They asked the government to distance itself from a colonialist point of view and include in the museum the stories, contributions and perspectives of Indigenous people.

Denis Gros-Louis of the First Nations Education Council told a hearing at the legislature that the bill in its current form doesn’t clearly recognize the fundamental contributions of First Nations.

The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador had criticized Premier François Legault for suggesting during the museum announcement in April that the province’s history began with the arrival of French explorers Jacques Cartier and Samuel de Champlain in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Legault responded to say the Musée national de l’histoire du Québec will focus specifically on the history of the French-speaking Québécois nation but will also discuss the contributions of Indigenous people.

John Martin of the First Nations Education Council told the hearing he’s worried the museum will present an overly rosy view of Quebec’s history. “There are things in Quebec’s history that aren’t very positive,” said Martin, who is a member of the Gesgapegiag Mi’gmaq First Nation. “The Oka crisis, for example,” he said, referring to the 78-day standoff in 1990 over land rights between Mohawk protesters and the Canadian Armed Forces.

The Indigenous groups also repeated previous criticism of historian Éric Bédard, who was quoted telling reporters at the museum announcement that history begins with writing, and that therefore “the Indigenous people represent a bit the prehistory of Quebec.”

“I think we have a different understanding of what history means,” Martin said. “You’re asking us to endorse what we perceive to be reminders of colonialism.”

Quebec Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe said he understood the objection to the word “prehistory.”

“I understand that those words could have been hurtful,” he said.

The new museum is expected to open in 2026.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Quebec’s minister responsible for relations with First Nations and Inuit says northern communities can’t opt out of paying their electricity bills.

Ian Lafrenière was reacting to a Radio-Canada report that found that members of some Indigenous communities hadn’t paid their electricity for years, resulting in a $250-million bill the utility is reportedly unsure how to collect.

The report said the 15 or so communities who are behind on payment are mostly Cree and Innu nations in parts of the province where Hydro-Québec operates dams or is planning wind farms.

Hydro-Québec confirmed in a statement that it had decided not to cut service to any First Nation or Inuit communities as part of a wider reflection on “economic reconciliation.”

Lafrenière told the legislature that there are communities who have had bad experiences with Hydro-Québec in the past, but he says refusing to pay their bills is the wrong way to send that message.

He says he wants to work with both sides to negotiate a resolution.

“We cannot take justice into our own hands,” he said in Quebec City, noting that the majority of Indigenous hydro clients pay their bills.

Both the Parti Québécois and the Quebec Liberal Party told the legislature the situation could not be allowed to go on.

PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said there doesn’t seem to be equity between hydro customers.

“What we’re saying is that there are people who pay their bills, and if they don’t there are consequences,” he said. “And there are others who don’t need to pay their bills … I don’t see how it will work in terms of equity.”

Québec solidaire’s Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois called for dialogue, saying that Hydro-Québec was created “as if Indigenous people didn’t exist.”

“The path of dialogue and negotiation is to be favoured so that we recognize the rights of all First Nations and pave the way for better relations in the future,” he said.

The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador was not immediately available for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

MONTREAL – Quebec Premier François Legault is under pressure over his government’s investment in a planned battery factory near Montreal, as Swedish manufacturer Northvolt cuts costs following a slowdown in demand for electric vehicles.

Opposition leaders at the Quebec legislature on Tuesday called on the Coalition Avenir Québec government to be more transparent about its agreement with Northvolt for the $7-billion project. They want to know what conditions are attached to the $710 million in public funds the province has already committed.

Legault, who touted the plant as the “greenest electric battery factory in the world” when he announced it one year ago, used more muted language on Tuesday. “When you want to develop, you have to take calculated risks. Otherwise, you don’t advance,” he said in the national assembly. “We think this is a special opportunity for Quebec.”

Normand Mousseau, scientific director of the Trottier energy institute at Polytechnique Montréal, said the Quebec government failed to communicate to the public that the Northvolt deal was inherently uncertain.

“I think the main issue was the fact that the government didn’t present this as what it is, which is a risky investment,” he said. “It was presented as a done deal.”

On Monday, Northvolt announced it is laying off 1,600 employees at its plants in Sweden, totalling one-fifth of its workforce. The company said the cuts have no impact on its plans to build a battery factory in Quebec, a message echoed Tuesday by Quebec Economy Minister Christine Fréchette.

“The project in Quebec remains a priority,” she told reporters. “We were aware that this is a new sector. And any new sector has to live with ups and downs. And so we’ve been careful in order to make sure that the protection of the public money is there.”

Earlier in the day, interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay said the opposition party wants more details about the deal secured with Northvolt last year, including a “schedule of payments.”

The Quebec government has given Northvolt a $240-million guaranteed loan to help the company buy land about 30 kilometres east of Montreal to build its plant. The government has invested a further $270 million in Swedish parent company Northvolt AB, alongside a $200-million investment from Quebec’s pension fund manager.

On Tuesday, Fréchette confirmed the government could inject another $300 million into the project once construction has started and private financing is in place.

“We need to have a government with transparency and honesty with respect to the taxpayers’ money,” Tanguay told reporters. The Liberals are also criticizing the government for setting aside a 354-megawatt energy block for the project, which former economy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said earlier this month could be delayed until 2028.

Moshe Lander, a senior lecturer in economics at Concordia University in Montreal, said the government should provide more information about how many jobs and how much revenue the project could generate, and how it plans to make a return on its investment. “There’s almost no transparency other than just the promise that this will be great,” he said in an interview.

Québec Solidaire spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois told reporters Tuesday he supports the development of the battery supply chain in the province, but wants the government to provide “the bare minimum in terms of transparency and information” about a project that he said is in “serious difficulty.”

“Mr. Legault has played poker with the money of Quebecers, and now he seems like he might be losing the game,” he said.

The Parti Québécois on Monday called for an emergency debate in the legislature on the project’s future, but the Speaker rejected the request Tuesday afternoon.

Mousseau said if Quebec wants to get into the electric vehicle battery industry, it has to take some risks and find a better way of explaining the uncertainty.

“If you say, ‘That’s the deal of the century, it will transform Quebec,’ I’m not sure that’s the right way to prepare people for the fact that they’re very risky investments,” he said.

But Lander believes that at this point, Quebec should “cut (its) losses and run,” rather than risk more public funds on a project that might never get off the ground.

“They never really had an exit strategy for how they were going to get their money back, how they were going to make a return on it,” he said. “It’s just further indication that when the government tries to bet on a horse, there is the chance that the gamble is wrong.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024.