PQ calls for emergency debate over Northvolt layoffs

Paul St-Pierre-Plamondon, leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ), stands up during question period at the Quebec National Assembly on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. The PQ is calling for an emergency debate on Tuesday on the situation of the Swedish company Northvolt. LA PRESSE CANADIENNE/Karoline Boucher

Quebec City -

As the difficulties mount for battery manufacturer Northvolt, the Parti Québécois (PQ) is calling for an emergency debate in the Quebec legislature on Tuesday to find out more about the agreement between the Quebec government and the Swedish multinational.

PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says that the Legault government lacks transparency in this matter. On Monday, Northvolt announced it was laying off 1,600 employees in Sweden or one-fifth of its workforce.

The company, set to build a plant on Montreal's South Shore with financial support from the Quebec government, is struggling and has to scale back its operations.

"We'd like investment in Quebec to work in the interests of all Quebecers, but we can't afford to be blindsided when the context changes radically either," said Plamondon at a press briefing at the National Assembly on Monday.

The PQ is not prepared to say that the government should pull out of the project, at least for the time being. "We want to look at the agreement and see what the options are, given that everything indicates that Northvolt is not ready to proceed with an expansion," said the PQ leader.

Northvolt's Quebec plant project is valued at $7 billion.

"In 2023, Quebec pledged $1.37 billion to Northvolt's battery plant project. Nearly $710 million has been committed to date, including a $200 million investment by the CDPQ, Quebecers' nest egg," wrote PQ MNA Pascal Bérubé in a letter sent to the President of the National Assembly, Nathalie Roy, to justify holding a debate.

The Speaker will decide whether the PQ's request for a debate is in order by determining whether the urgency is justified.

The Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) was quick to support the PQ's request. "For our part, we will continue to question the government on the subject, at every opportunity we are given," wrote Liberal MNA Monsef Derraji on X.

"The CAQ must stop wasting our money: I'm asking the premier not to put another penny into Northvolt before we lose everything. The CAQ has already injected $700 million of public money into this project, which already has problems and is increasingly worrying the public," wrote Québec solidaire MNA Haroun Bouazzi.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 23, 2024.