Jacques Boissinot Archives The Canadian Press Pierre Fitzgibbon says that several people are interested in the position of CEO. of Hydro-Québec
The Minister of Economy and Energy Pierre Fitzgibbon has widely solicited the opinions of his entourage to find a candidate to succeed the president and CEO of Hydro-Québec, Sophie Brochu .
Mr. Fitzgibbon clarified on Wednesday that he had “not necessarily” made any suggestion to the Crown corporation's board, which is legally responsible for making a recommendation on the matter to the government.
< p>The Minister, however, took an active part on his side, as did Premier François Legault, in the search for candidates.
“We spoke to different people, me, the Premier, he. The Council of Ministers is a lot of ministers, everyone has ideas in there. »
Mr. Fitzgibbon said the government wants to appoint someone “who knows about energy development”.
“There are a lot of people who are interested, who know about it, and who find the challenge interesting”, said- he said.
Without specifying whether he would favor a candidate from Quebec, Mr. Fitzgibbon nevertheless insisted on the importance of it having “a Quebec sensibility”.
Board Role
The Hydro-Québec Act establishes that the government appoints, “on the recommendation of the board of directors”, the president and chief executive officer of the Crown corporation.
Mr. Fitzgibbon argued Wednesday that Hydro-Quebec directors do not have to submit a list to the government containing more than one finalist.
“No, it's not in the law, it's not is not a practice,” he said.
Sophie Brochu announced last month that she will step down on April 11. In the press release announcing his departure, the Crown corporation stated that it was already in a position to carry out its duties.
“In terms of succession planning, the board of directors of Hydro-Québec has played its role and is thus able to recommend candidates to the Government of Quebec,” the statement said.
On Wednesday, Mr. Fitzgibbon said that the role of the board of directors is to ensure you have “the resources that are going to be able to execute the government's strategic vision”.
“The government is the shareholder, recalled the minister. So the government will ultimately decide. “
On the side of Hydro-Québec, the communications department declined to comment on the current process.
“Since the process is the responsibility of the Government of Quebec, I'm directing you to them,” replied spokesperson Maxime Huard-Lefebvre.
Last fall, Ms. Brochu warned the government against the temptation to want to transform the state corporation into a “dollar store” for electricity by offering advantageous rates to businesses.
In explaining the reasons for her departure in January, Ms. Brochu insisted on this point: we must the Quebec government uses its subsidy programs and not Hydro-Quebec to help businesses and do economic development.
During the last election campaign, Mr. Legault said he wanted to relaunch the construction of hydroelectric dams to meet increased demand.
