Carney’s energy against Quebec

A priori, it is surprising that Marc Miller inherits the language and culture files. Competent and experienced, he is also known for his pleasure in taunting Quebec nationalists – and they repay him.

In the chamber this week, it was Mr. Miller who stood up to answer a question from the Bloc on the environment. He changed the subject to talk about PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and the “separatists”.

However, it should be seen more as an accident than a plan.

Marc Miller is close to Justin Trudeau. In the back seats, this ex-minister was unhappy. The Liberal leader may have wanted to retain him. After all, his minority government is hanging by a thread.

Mr. Carney is consistent. In Quebec as in Alberta, he thinks first of the economy.

In Alberta, it subsidizes oil companies for carbon capture and storage, it abolishes regulations to authorize a hypothetical oil pipeline paid for by the private sector, it eases the planned new regulations on methane and it would give the green light for the province to produce more gas in order to attract data centers.

If it reduces prairie alienation, he will be happy with it. But that is not his main motivation. Faced with the shock of Donald Trump, Mr. Carney wants to transform Canada into an “energy superpower”.

Like his predecessors, Mr. Carney listens to the auto lobby. He removed the countermeasures from him. The aircraft industry has unsuccessfully called for the same thing so as not to be penalized when it imports specialized, non-replaceable steel parts, for example.

In Quebec, the wood industry suffers from eternal conflicts with the United States. Cumulative customs duties reach 45%. Ottawa offers loan guarantees to foresters, but they instead wanted to be compensated for half of these punitive rights.

We often draw parallels between the autonomist or independence movements of Alberta and Quebec. But at the moment, Quebec also shares interests with British Columbia (which denounces the current route of the pipeline).

These two provinces allowed the Liberals to beat the Conservatives. They are the forestry engine of the country. And they unsuccessfully demand compensation for the cancellation of the carbon tax.

In Alberta, no recognized party is proposing independence. In Quebec, the Parti Québécois is leading the polls and promising a referendum. This is by far the most serious threat, from a federalist point of view. But Mr. Carney still seems to be figuring out how to counter it.

It was more through negligence than provocation that he appointed Mr. Miller.

The minister will undoubtedly be an effective ally in protecting the culture budget – Quebec already receives more than its demographic share and has been spared during the current financial tightening.

For the rest, it will be more complicated.

In principle, the federal government now recognizes that French in Quebec is a language that is both majority and fragile. However, we still do not know how this will translate into actions.

According to the Bloc’s calculations, nearly 20% of the envelope sent to Quebec under the Official Languages ​​Act serve to promote English. The details of the measures remain opaque. If it’s to help a small theater, it’s defensible. But will other sums finance those who are wary of the protection of French? Mr. Miller, who is “tired” by this debate, is not likely to be interested in it.

The new minister will have little influence in a more crucial issue: the regulation of foreign platforms. Mr. Carney jettisoned the digital services tax, the funds from which would have been used to compensate artists caught in this unfair economic model. The Prime Minister thus wanted to cajole President Trump and his Silicon Valley allies. This also explains why he refuses to support Quebec, which is fighting for digital technology to be included in the UNESCO international convention on cultural diversity.

The federal Liberals are refraining from commenting on the CAQ’s draft Quebec constitution – there are already enough experts here to denounce it. They say they are open to discussing a new method of appointing judges, but that seems like a way of playing the clock. And Quebec is fighting as usual to receive the amounts planned in areas falling within its areas of jurisdiction, such as funds for municipalities, transportation and mental health.

While Mr. Miller and some of his colleagues enjoy scrapping with the nationalists, Mr. Carney barely seems to have enough interest to watch the spectacle.

This will perhaps be the federal government’s new plan B – avoiding the debate on Quebec’s place, hoping that its indifference will be contagious.