Quebec environmentalists question the appointment of Pascale Déry

Quebec Minister of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks Pascale Dery is sworn in at the legislature in Quebec City Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Environmental groups hope that texts written in the past by new Quebec Environment Minister, Pascale Déry, concerning endangered species and fossil fuels will not reflect her political decisions.

Certain texts written by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) between 2016 and 2019, when Déry was the organization’s vice-president of communications and development, are causing concern for Louis Couillard, spokesperson for Greenpeace Canada.

“The new minister’s past positions show that she does not see the energy transition as a response to current economic challenges; yet, with the instability of the oil markets creating real economic uncertainty, this is not the time for Quebec to slow down on electrification, decarbonization and our climate commitments; quite the contrary,” said Louis Couillard in an interview with The Canadian Press.

The climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace referred to various publications, including one entitled “Abandoning the Energy East project would be a serious mistake,” written by the MEI when Déry was its vice-president of communications.

The MEI is a think tank that regularly promotes fossil fuel projects, and Energy East was an oil pipeline project that would have transported hydrocarbons from western Canada to the east.

Greenpeace also pointed out that in 2018, Déry was head of communications at the MEI when it published a piece entitled “Carbon trading: driving jobs away… without reducing GHGs!”

In the article, the MEI argued that the carbon market “will have a negligible impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while causing billions of dollars in losses for the economies of Quebec and Ontario.”

Déry’s appointment “is a missed opportunity to send a strong signal to Quebecers: that the environment and the fight against climate change will be at the heart of the CAQ’s programme ahead of the autumn elections,” according to Couillard.

The Greenpeace spokesperson also referred to the paper “Protecting the woodland caribou: significant costs, but what results?” published by the MEI when Déry was its vice-president.

‘Is there an endangered species in the area?’

For his part, Marc-André Viau, director of government relations at Équiterre, raised questions about a column published in the Journal de Montréal by Déry in 2016, entitled “Is there an endangered species in the area?”

“She wrote that piece in a different professional capacity, but will she adopt that same stance in her role as Minister of the Environment?” asked the Équiterre representative.

In that article, the woman who is now Minister of the Environment argues that “more and more groups and individuals are turning to the Species at Risk Act in an attempt to block any development project,” citing the example of a housing project in La Prairie.

“It is important to protect biodiversity and endangered species, but we cannot completely block major projects right in the middle of construction,” wrote the columnist.

“Before all this controversy, did you know there was an endangered species called the false cricket tree frog? I certainly didn’t! I’d never heard of this amphibian before,” reads the text written in 2016.

“Will the new minister assume the responsibilities that come with her ministry, namely defending and protecting the environment?” asked Viau.

The director of government relations for Équiterre mentioned that he hopes to meet the new minister soon.

“We hope we’ll have a better chance of meeting her than we did with her predecessor,” added Viau, referring to Bernard Drainville.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 21, 2026.