Quebec plans to shift costs of agreements with Indigenous people to Hydro clients

The Legault government wants Hydro-Québec customers to assume the costs of "reconciliation" agreements signed with First Nations people and Inuit, preventing Quebec from losing dividends it receives from the Crown corporation.

Economy Minister Christine Fréchette presented the idea on Wednesday during the study of Bill 69, which lays the foundation for an integrated energy resources management plan.

Two weeks before the end of the parliamentary session, she tabled a total of 52 amendments to her predecessor Pierre Fitzgibbon's bill, which contains 157 clauses.

Opposition parties were surprised because the idea to socialize the costs of agreements with Indigenous peoples is unusual.

Liberal energy critic Gregory Kelley called the amendment a major change, saying "we've always used Hydro-Québec dividends."

"If we change this model and the consumer assumes the costs of signing agreements with Indigenous communities, I worry this could create some tension," he said.

Liberal MNA Brigitte Garceau asked on Wednesday who had been consulted in preparation for the amendments.

Discussions were held within the government and with Hydro-Québec, according to Fréchette.

Pascal Paradis, Parti Québécois energy critic, said the practice would go against current rules by Quebec's energy regulator, the Régie de l'énergie.

The Régie does not allow for costs linked to electricity production to be integrated into the calculation of customer distribution rates.

Fréchette explained that the goal was to "smooth out over [50 years]" the cost of the agreements" so the impact would not be as great in a year when there are many agreements compared to a year when there are fewer or none at all.

"We want to increase the number of partnerships that we have with First Nations people" and "most of the agreements we're talking about are still to come," she said.

Already more than $60M in agreements

Fréchette gave examples of two agreements reached in April and May 2024.

The first one signed by Hydro-Québec with the Conseil des Innus d'Unamen Shipu aims to settle disputes related to the construction of the Lac-Robertson Generating Station on the North Shore and provides for a payment of $32 million over 23 years.

The second agreement, reached between the Crown corporation and the Conseil des Innus de Pakua Shipi, stems from discussions on the Lac-Robertson complex. It provides for a payment of $28 million over 23 years.

Relationships with Indigenous people are central to Hydro-Québec's action plan to increase the number of energy projects in the coming years, since most of the projects are located on their territories.

Paradis said that the "debate is not about the merits of the agreements" but about what is considered in distribution rates. He said he can't imagine including "past agreements for facilities built a very long time ago."

"Lac-Robertson should not have any influence over the rate that Ms. Nadeau of Gatineau will have to pay," he said.

Paradis proposed removing that calculation from the amendment, but Fréchette asked for the discussion to be postponed until Thursday.

Haroun Bouazzi, Québec Solidaire energy critic, also expressed his surprise at the number of amendments Fréchette tabled. He added that not everyone has had the chance to comment on the changes she made.