A Parti Québécois government would not necessarily oppose new gas or oil pipelines

The PQ says that if elected, it would not be opposed to projects to build or expand oil or gas pipelines in Quebec.

A future PQ government would not be opposed to projects to build or expand oil or gas pipelines in Quebec.

At their convention in Saint-Hyacinthe on Sunday, members of the Parti Québécois rejected a proposal to close the door on such projects.

Among the arguments raised in opposition to the proposed resolution, one member stated at the microphone that he feared this would prohibit the connection of industrial facilities to a necessary gas supply.

The proposal was defeated by a fairly large majority.

Gas and oil pipeline projects have returned to the forefront in recent years for the export of hydrocarbons from Western Canada, ensuring outlets for them in the United States or overseas.

Last year, a proposal for a gas pipeline several hundred kilometres long connecting western Canada to Baie-Comeau on the North Shore was discussed with a view to building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal.

PQ party members also rejected the idea of “progressive” residential electricity pricing, with a view to discouraging owners of very large homes who consume excessive amounts of energy, but also to “protect the less well-off”.

In addition, PQ members also rejected a proposal that would have forced Hydro-Quebec to reject any private electricity production and distribution projects, instead accepting “only partnerships with municipalities, intermunicipal boards, Indigenous communities, and other public and community actors in the area of production.”

French language

The PQ has pledged, if elected, to pass a new law on the protection of the French language, even though the CAQ government has already implemented its reform of the Charter of the French Language.

This new PQ law would aim to “ensure the integration of newcomers within a framework of cultural convergence,” it is proposed.

“It will form the cornerstone of its cultural policy and affirm the common culture of Quebecers.”

PQ party members have also spoken out in favour of adding a compulsory Quebec history course at the college level, even though there are already compulsory history courses at the secondary school level.

However, PQ members who taught at the college level objected that the compulsory course curriculum was already full and that one of the compulsory subjects would therefore have to be removed.

But Benjamin Brassard, a member from Abitibi-Témiscamingue, argued that it would be enough to “remove an English course,” adding that “an extra history course is never too much!”

Finally, conference participants asked a potential PQ government to “consider the possibility of extending the voting age to 16, while implementing a plan to further politicise Quebec youth.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 25, 2026.