Liberals believe the government will impose a gag order on Quebec energy bill

Quebec Liberal Party interim Leader Marc Tanguay questions the government at the legislature in Quebec City, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Everything suggests that the government will force the adoption of Bill 69 on energy by gag order, says the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ).

The parliamentary session ends on Friday.

“With François Legault, gagging equals sloppiness, and we denounce it,” said interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay at a news conference Monday morning in Montreal.

Liberal MNA Monsef Derraji accused the government of dragging its feet on Bill 69.

“As of today, we have lost 250 hours of detailed study. (...) This shows you how unprepared this government was to have a meaningful discussion about Quebec’s energy future, and unfortunately, we are witnessing the politicization of energy rates by François Legault,” he said alongside his leader.

Tanguay also criticized the bill.

“François Legault has decided to pass on the bill of 15 per cent and more over the last three years to our SMEs and businesses. In that sense, it’s a bad bill,” he said.

The Parti Québécois (PQ) also believes that the government will use gag orders and reiterates its request that the bill be withdrawn “so that the minister can go back and do her homework.”

“The CAQ government has achieved a remarkable feat: it has managed to unite everyone against it. Neither civil society organizations, SMEs nor industries agree with the pile of amendments it tabled at the last minute. The CAQ government, which itself does not seem to understand the impact of these amendments, is creating even more confusion in a bill that was already a hodgepodge,” said PQ MNA Pascal Paradis in a written statement sent to The Canadian Press.

Two weeks ago, Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy Christine Fréchette tabled 52 amendments to modify the legislative text.

‘We are calling on the opposition to study the bill’

Last week, Fréchette refused to commit to not passing her bill under closure.

Her office told The Canadian Press that the bill had been studied for more than 100 hours, that there had been four briefings for the opposition parties, and that the amendments had been provided in advance.

“We are not using closure. We are calling on the opposition to study the bill,” the minister’s communications director, Maxime Roy, said in a text message on Monday.

A laborious process

Introduced in June 2024, Bill 69 aims to give Hydro-Québec free rein to increase its electricity production.

It was introduced by former super-minister Pierre Fitzgibbon before he resigned in September 2024. Fréchette took over, but the legislative process for the bill has been arduous.

In December 2024, Fréchette cited Donald Trump and his threats of tariffs to justify the delays in moving the bill forward.

Last February, it was the turn of the official Liberal opposition to delay consideration of the bill, also citing the American president.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 2, 2025.