GASPE, QUE. -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to Quebec's Gaspe region on Wednesday and made a campaign-style announcement of $25 million to expand a wind turbine plant to produce blades destined for markets in the United States and Europe.
The project is a joint partnership with the Quebec government and plant owner LM Wind Power, a Danish subsidiary of General Electric, to produce 107-metre-long blades that the federal government says would be the largest in the world.
"We have the skills, expertise and resources here in Canada to be leaders in clean technologies," Trudeau told a gathering at the plant in Gaspe, about 700 kilometres northeast of Quebec City, alongside Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and local MP and federal Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier.
"And our government will continue to take real actions to develop our industrial advantage when it comes to renewable energy."
Trudeau has refused to confirm whether there will be a fall election, but he has done little to quell the rumours with his recent flurry of travel and spending announcements. With speculation that an election call is weeks away, Trudeau quickly criticized the Conservatives following Wednesday's funding announcement.
After listing a series of green-energy investments his government has recently made, the prime minister said, "it's been six years I've been trying to explain to Conservatives -- who refuse to listen but Canadians understand well -- that fighting climate change and protecting the environment is the way to secure the jobs of the future."
The Gaspesie--Les Iles-de-la-Madeleine riding narrowly remained Liberal in the last election, with Lebouthillier defeating her Bloc Quebecois rival by less than 700 votes.
The project to expand LM Wind Power's Gaspe plant will cost $160 million. The government said in a news release it will provide "up to $25 million" that will help create 200 jobs and "maintain approximately 380 additional jobs for Canadian workers."
Trudeau began his day in Perce, where he hosted an economic roundtable discussion and strolled down the town's picturesque boardwalk for a photo with Lebouthillier. During the opening remarks of the roundtable, Trudeau announced support for upgrades to the wharf at the Port of Cap-aux-Meules in the Iles-de-la-Madeleine and said Ottawa is withdrawing plans to transfer the port to a lower level of government.
- This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 14, 2021
