Campaigning Saturday on the West Island, Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime said if elected his government would focus on shale gas in the first mandate.
Author of the article:
La Presse Canadienne
Pierre Saint-Arnaud
A Conservative government would be open to reviving oil exploration and development projects in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Gaspésie and, ultimately, on Anticosti Island.
Campaigning Saturday on the West Island, Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime recalled he “always said that we had to exploit our hydrocarbons,” but specified he had initially focused on shale gas, in particular on the shale formation of Utica, which occupies nearly 16,000 square kilometres in the lowlands of the St-Lawrence.
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“I first focused on the gas,” Duhaime said. “There is a good reason for that, it is that the growth in the future for the demand for natural gas is higher for a longer period of time and the projects, the companies which have rights in Quebec are more advanced in level of these projects.”
Duhaime said the exploitation of shale gas in a first term would be “more realistic and it is more feasible than talking about oil in the current Quebec context.”
Pressed further, specifically on whether he was closing the door on the oil potential of Gaspésie, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Anticosti Island, Duhaime said: “I am not closing the door on nothing. I agree that if it has a positive environmental impact for the planet and if these are projects that are viable and can create jobs in the region, I think everyone should be in favour.”
Earlier this week, however, Duhaime had put a damper on a project on Anticosti Island, which is seeking admission to the UNESCO World Heritage List. He had then recognized Anticosti has “particularities,” which would not make it the first choice for oil exploitation, but had not completely closed the door there, either.
Duhaime said Quebec must exploit its hydrocarbons and use this money to finance its energy transition to electricity.
The party leader recalled his main objective upon his arrival in politics was “to lay the foundations of a major political formation in Quebec.”
Of course, winning ridings in the greater Quebec City area would be welcome, but whether that happens or not, Duhaime said his two other objectives — to have a high percentage of votes and to finish second in as many ridings — are just as important: “It’s an election, but in four years there will be another where we will be the alternative.”
