(Quebec) Former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Charest will be part of the delegation which will inaugurate the vast La Romaine hydroelectric complex on Thursday.
The information first reported by Le Devoir was confirmed Wednesday afternoon to La Presse Canadienne by a source close to Mr. Charest.
The former head of government will accompany the current CAQ Prime Minister François Legault, his Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, as well as the CEO of Hydro-Québec, Michael Sabia.
Thursday’s event should mark the end of construction work on the last of the four power stations of the hydroelectric complex located near Havre-Saint-Pierre, on the North Shore.
It was Mr. Charest who launched the work on La Romaine in 2009, which he presented as a first step towards the possible construction of another project on the North Shore, that of Petit-Mécatina.
His party later inducted him into the pantheon of “great builders”.
In 2017, the liberal government of Philippe Couillard made a mistake when it inaugurated La Romaine-3 without thinking of formally inviting Mr. Charest.
Mr. Couillard, however, wanted to publicly highlight the great contribution of Jean Charest to the La Romaine project, which was said to cost 6.5 billion and ultimately provide a total power of 1,550 MW.
Mr. Charest’s presence at this event on Thursday will come at the same time as a committee of Liberals will present, in Montreal, a report supposed to relaunch the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ).
After his electoral defeat in 2012, Jean Charest returned to the practice of law. He ran for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada last year, but was defeated by Pierre Poilievre.
