Steven Guilbeault defends the environmental record of the Liberals

The Liberal candidate in the Montreal riding Laurier-Sainte-Marie drew up Saturday morning the environmental assessment of his party. Steven Guilbeault, however, refused to comment on the third link project in Quebec City or on potential new pipelines under a Liberal government.

Posted on October 19, 2019 at 11:54 am

Janie Gosselin
The Press

"We now have a robust environmental assessment process in Canada, which will do a proper assessment – not sloppy, as in Stephen Harper's day – of projects, where the environmental impacts of any type of project will be assessed, and more at that assessment, we will make informed decisions, "he said, in response to a question about potential new pipeline projects.

Équiterre's founder has repeatedly disagreed with the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project, which has been given the go-ahead by the government of its leader, Justin Trudeau.

As for the third link project in Quebec City, Steven Guilbeault said he would like a "serious environmental study". "Once we've done that, we'll be able to make informed decisions. Currently, we are not able to do that, "he said, refusing to speak for or against.

The Liberal candidate denounced the Bloc Quebecois leader's "attacks" on him. Yves-Francois Blanchet stated in an interview with QUB Benoit Dutrizac, Steven Guilbeaut was "for the Suroît", the project of construction of thermal power station abandoned in 2004. "Mr. Blanchet lied to voters, he lied to Quebecers and Quebec women, "thundered Mr. Guilbeault, pointing out that he had" no lessons to be had in terms of protecting the environment "of the Bloc leader.

A Mainstreet poll released Saturday in Le Soleil gave 40% of voting intentions to Bloc Quebecois member Michel Duchesne in Laurier-Sainte-Marie, compared to 35% for Guilbeault, who lost ground against another poll in September.

The Liberal candidate refused to comment on these results. "I did not comment on any poll, I'm not an expert on polls," he said. He believes, however, that he and his team have met "several thousand people" in recent weeks.

He was proud of the Liberal Party of Canada's environmental record despite criticism. He recalled the environmental commitments of his party to be carbon neutral by 2050 and to plant 2 billion trees, among others.